Never a Normal Life
by Wilhelmina Vandom
Summary: Running from their past Will and Susan Vandom arrive in Heatherfield and must face obststacles to get their lives stabilized and more normal. Problem is Will was never meant to have a normal life as she learns when she meets four other girls. Please R & R
1. It Begins & It Resumes part 1

"Relax honey, everything is going to be fine." Susan said while stifling a yawn. She hated driving this late at night and the current storm made things even worse but they were behind schedule and needed to be in Heatherfield by morning. She was supposed to start her new job with Simultech in the morning and she didn't need to be late to it because if she lost it then they were screwed. They had left Fadden Hills with just a few changes of clothes a piece and nothing else except the money to pay their rent at the apartment they were going to be staying at with a little bit left over for gas and hopefully some groceries. It wasn't much but it was a roof over the pair's head as well as being furnished.

Pulling into a service station, driving up under the roof over the gas pumps she stopped and looked over at a tense teenage girl with short red hair. She sported a nasty looking black eye as well as a split lip thanks to the son of a bitch known as Tony Vandom. Susan had a restraining order against the bastard but it didn't stop him from coming over drunk when Susan went to work at the McDonald's where she was a shift manager while attending training school for computer programming set up for prospective Simultech employees. She got a call in the middle of her shift with her sobbing daughter crying hysterically into the phone while someone was screaming in the background. The general manager was there and told her she couldn't leave so Susan ended up throwing her smock in the snot nosed brats face and stormed out.

She arrived to find the police escorting Tony away from the building where Will locked herself in her room after escaping from the drunken man. Tony had apparently been trying to beat the door down while screaming at the top of his lungs calling Will slut and whore just like her mother. The nerve of the bastard, Will was no more of a slut than Susan was. In fact Tony's current girlfriend was the only slut in the neighborhood who was one in Susan's opinion as the woman was a stripper at the place on the outside of town. How the woman could deal with Tony was beyond Susan though.

"Mom, how much longer until we get there?" Will asked softly, her attention still looking out the window. Looking over at the girl Susan saw what she was looking at, Will wasn't watching something outside she was looking at her battered reflection in the window as she rubbed her arms trying o warm herself. It was getting pretty cold and the heater in the car wasn't working very well forcing them to leave the windows down enough so the windows wouldn't fog over.

"Just three more miles, Will." Susan said reaching over to hug Will who struggled a little before finally succumbing to the embrace. "I promise everything is going to be fine. There isn't no way he can track us and as soon as I get started in my job we are going to have plenty of money and I'll buy you all the frogs you want."

It pissed Susan off thinking about it though, they released Tony without pressing any charges because of some legal technicality which scared the hell out of Will. They teenager refused to sleep ever since they released him though she couldn't stay awake forever. Will had started nodding off at the worst of moments making everything even worse on the redhead and the bad dreams didn't help at all. Tony had tormented the both of them for too long making this move far overdue.

"I don't want any damn frogs." Will growled, squeezing her arms so tight her knuckles started going white. "I just want him to leave us alone and he's never going to do it."

"He won't find us, Will. This is a new start for both of us, that bastard will never hurt us again." Susan promised rubbing Will's shoulder. "I'll be right back as soon as I get the gas then we will be to our new home within twenty minutes."

"Mom, I'm sorry." Will sighed looking over to the elder Vandom woman, the look in Will's eyes stinging Susan.

"Will, there is nothing for you to be sorry for so don't even go there." Susan declared, looking into her daughter's eyes putting as much love and honesty in her eyes as she could hoping that it would get through to Will. She knew that everything has been hard on Will, maybe even harder than it was on Susan herself. The young girl always seemed to be blaming herself for what happened. "This is his fault."

"I guess." Will sighed though Susan could tell that the girl wasn't quite convinced. "Do you mind if I wait here? I don't want them to see me like this."

"Of course honey, I'll be right back." Susan said, smiling to herself as she climbed from the car and opened the gas tank while taking the pump from the holder and putting it in the car's tank. Will wasn't exactly very self confident though she was a very beautiful girl and Susan wasn't being biased. Hell, Susan would have killed to have Will's looks when she was her daughter's age of sixteen, well sixteen in just a couple short weeks. Even in the baggy red tee shirt and jeans one could still notice the curves she sported and though she was a little pale and had a few freckles spotting her cheeks the girl had a serene beauty about her. The girl's soft brown eyes were usually full of kindness and laughter, even after all the two women have endured but after the last incident there was pain and hopelessness now shinning in them.

Susan sighed as she finished pumping the gas and replaced the nozzle and gas cap before going inside to pay for the gas. When she came back out she found Will asleep with her head leaning against the car door. Susan slid her own coat off and draped it over the younger girl in an attempt to warm her daughter up a little more. Unfortunately she wouldn't be able to get the power turned on for a few days yet but at least they would have a place to lie down until she could get it on.

She slowly pulled the car onto the street heading toward Heatherfield and in a matter of minutes they passed the sign announcing their arrival to their new hometown. It was going to be a new start for both of them and Susan knew everything was going to get much better for both of them.

Finally arriving at the rundown building that was to be their new home Susan pulled into the parking lot and found the space in front of their new apartment which was all outside access and sat next to the manager's apartment. Turning off the car Susan frowned as the rain still hadn't seemed to let up but she didn't have a choice. Getting out of the car she ran up to the manager's apartment and stood under the small roof away from the rain. Hugging herself and rubbing her shoulders after ringing the doorbell, trying to warm up a little as she waited for the manager to answer.

Finally after what seemed an eternity an older gray-haired man in a dark bathrobe opened the door grumpily. When he saw Susan his eyes quickly went to her chest, staring down her soaked tank top which was clinging to her curves. She almost slugged him but cleared her throat angrily instead.

"Ah yes, Missus Vandom." The man said, "You're late."

"It's Miss Vandom and I'm sorry I'm late." Susan said as he closed the door which worried Susan for a minute until he came back and handed her a key.

"It's late, come buy tomorrow with the rent." The man said, "This is the last apartment I have open. The electric, water and trash is paid for. Have a good night."

Susan stood there a few moments half in anger and half in shock at how quick that was. She wasn't sure she wanted her daughter staying here in the same place as a guy like that but then again she guessed about any man that was straight would probably be staring at her chest if she showed up in a wet tee shirt like this.

"Men are such pigs." Susan grumbled as she noticed Will running up to her with two trash bags which held their few changes of clothes a piece.

"So you got the key." Will asked tiredly as the two ran across the small yard to their door.

"Yeah, and guess what the utilities are paid." Susan said smiling as she unlocked the door and went inside, flicking the switch next to the door turning the light on.

"Even cable?" Will asked a little hopefully.

"Sorry." Susan sighed as she surveyed the room, even if cable was paid for it didn't look like it would do any good as the only thing in the living room was an old brown couch with several rips in it.

"It's okay." Will said with a false smile as she looked around. Susan walked by the kitchen and saw that their was a small square table with a couple of chairs sitting at it. It looked like their was a sink and cabinets with one of the doors missing. Besides that there was a dirty looking stove and refrigerator as well.

"God, didn't anyone ever clean here?" Will asked with disgust before walking past Susan and down the hall. A few seconds later light came flooding down the hall where Will must have found its light switch. Susan could see that there was only two doors down there which meant that the bathroom had to be connected to one of the bedrooms which was strange as there was supposed to be two bedrooms aw well as a separate bathroom.

"Mom, I thought there was supposed to be two bedrooms." Will said as she met Susan back in the hallway coming from one of the rooms.

"There is, Will." Susan said as dread began to fill her. There had to be some mistake, the manager swore to her over the phone that there were two bedrooms and if there wasn't they were screwed because the man said that this was the last. She had called all over Heatherfield and this was the only place they could afford until Susan got started at her job and received a couple checks to get stabilized.

"You better count again, mom." Will grumped while crossing her arms in annoyance. Susan walked past her and opened the first door to find a small bathroom with a curtainless shower, a small sink with broken mirror on a medicine cabinet and a toilet. All in all it was actually pretty clean though not as clean as Susan liked.

Continuing down the hall to the last door Susan went in to find a simple bedroom with a large box spring with a mattress on top with clean looking pillows and sheets on it. There was a closet that didn't have a door and the single window had a huge crack running through it. Susan felt her knees going weak as she wanted to cry, she was expecting a nice apartment with two bedrooms with decent furnishings but instead got an apartment that was badly run down.

"I'm so sorry." Susan said as tears started forming.

"Hey, it'll be okay." Will said hugging her. "This will be okay, you said as soon as we get stabilized we can find a better place. This will be a pretty nice place until then, heck with a little cleaning and a few touches this could be a really nice place."

"Thanks Will." Susan said smiling a little as Will let her go, Susan realizing how soaked the two of them were. "You can have the bedroom, I'll sleep on the couch."

"No how, no way." Will said grabbing Susan's hand keeping the older woman from leaving the room. "The bed is more than big enough for the both of us."

"Will, you need your privacy." Susan protested.

"Mom, there is no way in hell I'm letting you sleep on that-that thing out there." Will said waving toward the door, obviously indicating the couch. "This is only temporary so don't worry. Did you pack any towels or soap or anything?"

"No, I was in a hurry to get out of there." Susan sighed, too worried about getting out before Tony had a chance to get drunk and come back like he threatened, something she never told Will about.

"Well luckily I did, I grabbed all the stuff from the bathroom." Will said which explained why Will's bag was so much bigger than Susan's own. "Now let's wash off real quick then get some sleep."

"I need to make sure I'm up in time to head to Simultech." Susan sighed as Will was busy digging around in her bag and came back out with an alarm clock.

"Bless you." Susan said hugging Will tightly, "What would I ever do without you?"

"Probably fall apart." Will said with a hint of her old mischievous smirk.

"Probably would, lets go get a shower and get o bed." Susan said. Not too long later found the two women in bed, the alarm clock next to them on the floor set early enough to wake them up for Susan to get ready for work though Will wouldn't be starting school for a few days until her eye and lip healed completely. Susan held Will to her, spooning her from behind as they cuddled under the blankets trying to warm up as their luck the heater seemed to be broke in the apartment to.

"Night mom, love you." Will whispered as she drifted off to sleep.

"Night Sprite." Susan whispered, kissing the back of the red head's head. True Will had outgrown that nickname, the girl was no longer the sprite looking lithe girl she once was but was now a very beautiful young woman but to Susan Will would always be her little sprite.


	2. It Begins & It Resumes part 2

It was so cold, the frigid air sending chills throughout the young red haired girl's body as she hugged herself in an effort to warm herself a little. Why did it feel like she was completely naked? Cracking her eyes opening she saw the reason behind that feeling as she was one hundred percent in the buff. What the hell was going on and for that matter where was she? It looked like she was trapped in some kind of tear shaped crystal that was hovering in the clouds which was swirling violently from what appeared to be hurricane force gales of wind and the torrential downpour of rain.

"Where am I?" Will screamed, "Mom!"

All of a sudden the crystal shattered dropping her unceremoniously to the surface of the clouds which seemed like ground as she landed roughly with a sharp gasp as it jarred her sore rib cage. Huddling there she tried to see anything but the severe weather was actually starting to force her back before a loud beeping startled her.

Sitting up with a cry Will found herself in bed next to her mother who was turning off the alarm clock. Looking down at herself she saw that she was wearing her blue nightshirt with a frog on the front of it, their blankets bunched up around her waist. Looking over she saw her mother in her black night gown though it was a little hard to make out in the dimly lit room as it was still dark outside.

"Are feeling up to getting your own breakfast this morning?" Susan asked reaching for her purse that was sitting next to the alarm clock and pulling out a twenty and handing it to Will. "I saw a service station and a BK just down the street when we came in last night."

"I'll be okay mom but I can't take that." Will said as Susan shoved the money into Will's hand.

"You can and will, this is extra since we won't have to pay a deposit for electric." Susan said, "We should have plenty to get you some stuff for school also and get a few groceries."

"Okay but I'm not spending much and I'll only do that if you promise to get yourself something." Will said finally taking the money from the older woman.

"I will but I don't know what time I'll be home tonight and if you see the manager tell him I'll take care of the rent when I get home tonight." Susan said leaning over and kissing Will's cheek, "I'll see you tonight baby, go back to sleep for awhile."

"Have a good day mom." Will said hugging Susan before the older woman got out of bed, "Get the stuff from my bag to get your shower."

"Thanks honey." Susan said climbing up from the bed and stumbling out of the room causing Will too giggle a little. That was more proof that they were mother and daughter, neither one was very good with mornings as Susan would have to have her morning cup, or twelve for that matter of coffee and Will would need her Pepsi or Mountain Dew. Sighing as she realized that neither one would probably be enjoying anything except for water for awhile as what little money they had could be better used than being blown on unnecessary things like that.

Falling back into the bed Will couldn't remember falling back too sleep as she was pretty much snoring before her head met the pillow. The next thing she knew was waking up to the noon sun spilling through the window across her face and the clock blinking 12:01 as she pulled the covers up over her head trying to hide from the outside world but soon gave up as sleep had deserted her.

Climbing out of the bed, or mattress on the floor she stretched trying to work out the kinks in her muscles. The mattress wasn't really all that comfortable but it was better than nothing and ten times better than that couch. She yawned while scratching her stomach through her shirt before digging through her bag for a clean change of clothes while vowing to come back later and put everything away though a part of her didn't want to because it would mean she was admitting that they would be staying there for awhile which unfortunately Will knew was going to happen. It would probably be a couple weeks before her mom got a check and they would have to wait a few more after that until the saved enough for deposits and first and last month's rent like all of the other places had said they wanted. During that time some of that money would have to be used for different things making it that much harder.

"This is all your fault." Will grumbled to herself trying to not let it get to her and make her cry. If her father hadn't become the bastard her was now then they could have still been a family and they wouldn't be struggling to make ends meat. Scratch that, Susan and Will was struggling while Tony was enjoying a nice fat Lawyer's paycheck which he didn't have to spend any on child support or alimony as he had enough pull to get custody of Will but Susan gave up any rights to any support from him in exchange to full custody of Will.

Sometimes Will would wonder if maybe Susan ever regretted doing that as it had just caused a lot of problems from Tony actually becoming more violent making a restraining order necessary to the financial strife they were having. It would be so much easier on Susan just to abandon Will but that was something that was a constant reminder of just how much her mother loved her and the two working together to try and survive had brought the two a lot closer together.

Will put her clothes out on the bed and took her bathing supplies and toothbrush to the bathroom, turning on the light as she went in. Walking up to the sink she could clearly see how bad her hair was messed up as it always was every morning. Looking closer in the mirror caused her jaw to drop as she dropped everything else. Gingerly reaching up she gently touched her eye and softly traced the area that was badly bruised just a day earlier. Moving to her lips she felt what she was seeing, her lip was no longer swollen and split but was perfectly healed just like her eye but that was impossible.

Shaking her head in confusion Will went about her normal morning ritual and was soon clean and dressed, her hair now somewhat tamed. She was dressed in a simple black tank top and baggy gray cargo pants and black and pink jacket with the money her mother had given her. She didn't really plan on spending much if anything but since her blackeye was healed she intended to do a little exploring before her mom made her get registered for school which would now be tomorrow most likely. Then again this was Wednesday so maybe she could get Susan to give her until Monday before having to register.

"Ah man, I don't have a key." Will grumbled as she walked into the kitchen. It wasn't as nasty as she thought it looked like the night before but it still wasn't very clean. Walking over to the fridge she reached out to open the door but jerked her hand back as she was shocked by static.

"Good morning, child." A stuffy, male voice asked in a British accent.

"Who said that?" Will cried out spinning around to search the room but didn't find anything.

"I did." The voice said again.

"Wh-Where are you?" Will asked shaking a little as she whirled back to the fridge where the voice came from.

"The fridge young lady." The voice said again causing Will to jump back in shock.

"You're talking!" Will shrieked jumping back and pointing at the fridge, her hand shaking as she clutched at her chest with her other hand as all color drained from her face.

"Yes." The voice said, chuckling a little.

"You can't be talking." Will said whimpering a little. It was finally happening, she was snapping from all the stress she was under that she knew was unhealthy for anyone, much less someone as young as her.

"I am though." The voice said again, mirth filling the voice.

"You can't be talking, refrigerators don't talk. They can't talk, I'm just dreaming, yep. This is not happening…It can't be." Will whimpered backing away room the obviously haunted fridge and jumped from a banging sound. A few seconds later it happened again causing Will to realize someone was at the door.

"Wh-Who is it?" Will squeaked when she got to the door before opening.

"Mister Carlson, I'm your landlord." Mister Carlson called, sounding kind of grumpy.

"Sorry, good morning Sir." Will said in relief as she opened the door to an older man.

"I came to get the rent." The man said, "Is your mother here?"

"She said she'd bring it by after work tonight." Will said crossing her arms, "I thought we had a two bedroom though."

"You did before you was five hours late. I gave it to someone else and this is all we have left." The man said in an uncaring tone, "Make sure you have her come by as soon as she gets back."

"I will." Will said stiffly, she couldn't believe that he would give away an apartment promised to them but there was nothing that could be done now. "Do you have an extra key?"

"Hold on a sec." The man said pulling out a key ring with more keys than she thought she could count dangling on it. He looked through them and finally found what e was looking for before pulling it off and giving it to Will. "Look, tell your mom I'll knock off fifty a month since its smaller."

"Gee thanks." Will said as the man walked away. Forgetting about the haunted fridge she locked the door before heading away from the complex. It was actually a pretty clear day though a little chilly, the ground seeming pretty dry after the downpour the previous night. She didn't get two blocks though when a police cruiser pulled up to the curb and a slightly overweight man with brown hair got out.

"Good afternoon young lady." The main said while taking of his hat, "Shouldn't you be in school?"

"I don't know, shouldn't you be off somewhere eating doughnuts?" Will sneered. She hated cops ever since the trouble with her father started as they never did anything to help. On top of that the last time they had said that they haven't read him his rights and some other bull causing them to release him. They were a bunch of useless trash that she despised.

"My name's Tom Lair, what's yours?" Tom asked, his face keeping calm though Will could see a little anger seeping into his eyes which for some reason scared her a little.

"It's none of your business." Will said crossing her arms before sighing. She didn't want to cause trouble because it would just add more stress to her mom. "Will Vandom."

"Shouldn't you be in school?" Tom asked moving closer to Will causing her to flinch. She couldn't figure out why he was making her so nervous though, sure cops were worthless but she didn't think they would actually try and hurt someone. They were far too lazy for something like that. Finally she gasped in realization. "You look like him."

"Who?" Tom asked.

"None of your business!" Will snapped, realizing he truly did look like her father though a little heavier. "We just moved here and I haven't registered yet, probably tomorrow. Now is there something else you wanted or can I go now?"

"You just moved here?" Tom asked, scratching his head but when he raised his hand Will rose her arms defensively in front of her.

"Yes now if you excuse me I have better places to be than here with you." Will said a little shakily as she backed away a few feet before spinning on her heel and taking off as fast as she could run back toward the apartment forgetting about exploring for now. She just wanted to get away from cop.

W.I.T.C.H.

Tom spent most of the rest of the day thinking about the rude redhead that he had met wondering what could make someone so spiteful towards a police officer as they were there to help. Shaking it of for the moment as he pulled into his drive he parked the car and found his way inside to have a slender pair of arms pull him down into a loving kiss.

"Hi honey, the kids home yet?" Tom asked as his wife released him.

"Chris is over at his friends working on something for school and Irma is eating at the Silver Dragon with her friends." Anna said, smiling playfully. "Dinner will be ready in a few minutes dear."

"Honey, what do you think would cause someone to hate the police?" Tom asked as he followed Anna into the kitchen.

"I don't know honey, maybe if a crook gets caught over and over they would probably resent you for it." Anna said as she turned the over off before pulling out a covered pan from the oven.

"I don't think she was a crook." Tom said causing his wife to turn around and look at him funny with a raised eyebrow. He laughed a little before saying, "Relax honey, I don't think she was much older than Irma but that is what was bugging me about it so much. What could have caused someone that young to act the way they did. She didn't even know me but she seemed so angry at me and I think it was because I'm a cop."

"Why don't you tell me what happened?" Anna asked, her playful mood evaporating as a more concerned one took its place.

W.I.T.C.H.

Hey peeps, need a major help on one thing in this story. Who, if anyone, should I pair Will up with? Should it be Matt (Don't know if I want to do that though), one of the other girls (Not too sure about that but it is a possibility) or someone else? Sorry, no Caleb though as he will be with his soulmate in this. (I do like Will and Caleb stories but for this it will be C&C.)

Anyways, thanks for your reviews. Next chappie, Dinner at the Silver Dragon and meetings.


	3. It Begins & It Resumes part 3

Will wanted to start banging her head on the door of the fridge as it kept scolding her about how bad it was to go so long without eating. This just couldn't be happening but to make matters worse the damned stove was joining in just in time for her stomach to make its presence known. Thankfully she was saved by the much earlier anticipated arrival of her mother which served to shut up the haunted kitchen appliances.

"Will, we need to talk." Susan sighed, a downcast expression on her face.

"Mom…whats wrong?" Will asked with worry as the older woman walked into the small apartment.

"Let's go out tonight, honey." Susan said smiling though Will could tell that it was forced. "I talked to the landlord and talked him down seventy five dollars on the rent if we didn't complain about the heater being broken."

"Mom!" Will gasped in surprise.

"Relax honey, this is a small apartment and a simple electric heater or even leaving the oven on a little bit would be more than enough to warm it up." Susan said ruffling Will's hair. "Did you have a good day?"

"Peachy." Will said though she was being sarcastic between dealing with a cop and haunted appliances though she wasn't going to tell her mom that and worry the woman at the obvious mental episode the redhead was having seeing that there wasn't a thing as ghosts. "Even with saving money mom how can we afford going out?"

"It'll be fine honey, promise." Susan said smiling a little, "I got some coupons for a great Chinese restaurant called the Silver Dragon. Buy one meal get a second free and I know how much you love Chinese food honey."

"Okay." Will sighed.

"Good, lets get going, I'm hungry." Susan said smiling.

It didn't take them long to find this Silver Dragon place and head inside where they were greeted by an older woman who had a blissful smile adorning her face and a green kimono.

"Welcome to the Silver Dragon, I'm Yan Lin." Yan Lin said, "Table for two?"

"Please and thank you." Susan said before the older woman lead them through the crowded masses near the back of the room where there weren't many people sitting them next to a table with three other girls around Will's age setting the girl on edge a little.

One girl was a slender Asian girl with long twin ponytails ring a pink skirt and tank top with goggles perched on top of her head. The second was a mocha skinned girl with brown eyes and dark short hair with a long braid. She was wearing gray cargo pants and an orange turtleneck sweater. The last girl was a little heaver set than the others but she wasn't overweight, in fact it added to how beautiful she was. She had wild, wavy brown hair and aqua colored eyes and was wearing a red tee shirt and a pair of blue denim jeans.

"What can I get you to drink?" Yan Lin asked handing the two Vandom women menus.

"Tea for me and Mountain Dew for Will." Susan said smiling.

"I'll be right back with your drinks." Yan Lin said walking away.

"Mom, something's wrong, isn't it?" Will asked noticing the worried look on the elder woman's face. It was the same look she had ever since Susan got home and it was starting to bother Will how the woman kept deflecting questions about it.

"Will, nothing is wrong." Susan said smiling sadly while looking around the restaurant to avoid her daughter's eyes.

"Please talk to me, Mom." Will sighed, "We promised that we wouldn't hide anything from each other, we're in this together."

"Here you ladies are." Yan Lin said bringing their drinks and putting them before Susan and Will. "Are you ready to order yet?"

"Lets see." Susan said, obviously glad for the distraction as she opened the menu and quickly skimmed through it, "I'll have the Sweet and Sour Chicken plate."

"I'll have the General Tso's plate." Will said, handing her menu back to Yan Lin as Susan did.

"It'll be ready in a few minutes." Yan Lin said with a smile leaving the two.

"Mom, spill it." Will demanded.

"I messed up Will, it's the school's fault though. I still need another class before I can get my job but thy are going to give me a free crash course in it which will only take a month tops if I work hard." Susan said rubbing her eyes, "They gave me a job in the mail room until then but it doesn't pay even close to what I'll make when I finish my class. I'll only be making minimum wage for now."

"It'll be okay, mom." Will said reaching across the table taking her mother's hand and squeezing it, "I can get a job after school to help out a little."

"No Will, you need o concentrate on your school work and have a life." Susan said smiling, "You are only sixteen once, enjoy it."

"Mom, if its going to take a month just to finish class then it'll probably be what two, three months before we even start pulling out of this damned hole." Will asked.

"Will, language." Susan said squeezing the redhead's hand back, "It'll be okay, I don't start until Monday so in the morning I'm going to apply for food stamps. I'm sorry Will."

"Hey, don't be sorry, we will make it Mom." Will said, "We will show that bastard that we don't need him."

"Language." Susan said though she couldn't help smiling more at the encouraging words from Will.

WITCH

"Check it out." Hay Lin said looking up from her school work as her grandmother seated a dark haired woman and red haired girl about her age at the table next to them. She was kind of glad that Cornelia wasn't with them to make comments about how ratty their clothes looked though Hay Lin didn't think they looked bad but the blonde girl was usually a little prissy for her own good and could find fault in most anything and especially people's clothes. It was a constant annoyance though the blonde was out growing that.

"Are they new too?" Tarnee asked a little hope in her voice which Hay Lin understood. The dark skinned girl had just started school at Sheffield that day and quickly became friends with Irma and Hay Lin but Cornelia vote was still out as the blonde had been in a bad mood all day so they didn't talk much.

"Must be, I never saw them before." Irma said chewing on her pencil, frowning in disgust at her math book.

"Want to go say hi?" Taranee asked.

"Not right now, it looks like they are trying to have a mother daughter night and I don't think they would want to be disturbed.

"Did you just hear that?" Irma asked softly, keeping her voice down so only the other two could hear her.

"Sounds like they are having some kind of problems." Taranee said feeling sorry for them as did Irma and Hay Lin. None of them had to ever really struggle for anything, at least nothing like this so they didn't really know what it was like but they knew it had to have been hard and completely suck.

"Maybe we can help them some?" Hay Lin said.

"How?" Irma asked shaking her head, "Its not like we can do much for her."

"We can always try and be her friends." Taranee said as Hay Lin noticed the woman sitting at the table next to them get up and go down the small hall toward the bathrooms before the redhead looked over angrily at them.

"I don't need you pity so leave me the hell alone!" The girl snapped though it looked like she was fighting tears, "I don't need more fake friends."

"Y-You heard us?" Hay Lin asked turning red from embarrassment.

"Yes, the whole damned world could hear you!" the girl snapped, "I don't need your help, I don't need your pity and I don't need YOU!"

"Hey girl, we aren't trying start any trouble." Irma said obviously miffed that the red haired girl attitude.

"I'm sorry, I'm Hay Lin." Hay Lin said a little nervously as she got up and moved over to the redhead who watched the slim Asian girl move to her table and offered her hand. "Please forgive us if we said something to hurt you but we would really like to be friends."

"Why should I trust you?" The redhead asked obviously wanting to take the darker haired girl's hand. "I've been down that path far too many times with people saying they were my friends just because they pitied me."

"Look, I do feel sorry for you. I don't remember too much of it but my family had a very hard time when we moved here since we didn't really have any money. We finally opened up this restaurant and we made it. I feel sorry for what you are going through but I don't pity you. From what I heard your mom saying I know you both will make it!" Hay Lin said grinning pushing her hand closer, "Do you want to be friends?"

"I guess it wouldn't hurt to try but the first time you betray me I'll bust you up." The girl said though the look in the girl's eyes said she wasn't serious. The redhead reached out and gingerly took the offered hand shaking a little though Hay Lin smiled brighter. "My name is Will Vandom."

"I'm Irma Lair and this is Taranee Cook." Irma said coming up behind them.

"We really are sorry if we offended you." Taranee said.

"This is great, you're already making some new friends." The older woman said returning from her trip from the restroom. "I'm Susan Vandom."

"I'm hay Lin and this is Irma Lair and Taranee Cook." Hay Lin said.

"Would you girls like to join us, I think I have enough on me." Susan said going for her purse.

"We will if you let the house take care of it." Hay Lin smiled.

"Honey, I don't think they would appreciate that." Susan said.

"Nonsense, any friend of my granddaughter is welcome here." Yan Lin said bringing the Vandom girls' plates out. "Are you girls ready to eat yet?"

"Sure Missus Lin." Irma brightened.

"Fate smiles brightly on you today Granddaughter." Yan Lin said, "Two new friends."

"Yep." Hay Lin said beaming brightly.

"Two?" asked Will staring hungrily at the plate placed before her, its steaming contents causing her stomach to growl.

"My family just moved here to." Taranee said.

"I insist for paying though, its only right." Susan said.

"I won't here of it young lady, think of this as a welcome to town gift." Yan Lin said pulling two cards handing one to Susan and one to Will. "There is a hundred dollars on each of those cards for here."

"I can't." Susan said surprised.

"You can and will." Yan Lin said smiling, "Now enjoy your dinner. Hay Lin, your mother will bring you and your friends out your food its time for me to head on up stairs."

"Thanks grandmother." Hay Lin said hugging the older woman.

WITCH

Yan Lin slowly made her way upstairs, her body stiff and very tired as she climbed each step. She was getting to old to be doing this and very soon would probably have to stop and maybe hire someone else to help out in the restaurant as it wasn't fair for Hay Lin to be stuck doing more than she already did around here. Yan Lin knew her granddaughter would not be continuing the restaurant as she had a great destiny before her and it would be wasted here.

Finally reaching her room she pulled a small key chain with a few keys on it and unlocked the door letting it swing open. Yan Lin's jaw dropped when she saw her wardrobe shaking violently. Hurrying over to it she chose another key and unlocked it and swung the doors open to see the small chest with the heart inside glowing brightly.

"I'm so sorry Will." Yan Lin sighed realizing that this must have been why she felt the young redhead was very important. She was the new chosen keeper of the heart. "Nerissa, Cassidy please look after her and make sure she doesn't make the same mistakes we made."

WITCH

The first meeting of the guardians, well minus Cornelia. Thank you everyone for your great reviews. 14 total reviews so far, WoOt. Not sure about who to pair Will with so far but I've had several PM's, e-mails and reviews that give suggestions thank you all very much. Many people wanted to see Will with Caleb, Matt or even Aldarn/Drake. Sorry, Caleb is out of the running for this story as for Matt and Aldarn/Drake, they are very good candidates. A couple other good candidates is Phobos or my own character. I'm not sure about Phobos as that may very well interfere with the plot though it isn't completely ruled out. My own character is a good possibility but I'm not sure where to go with making one but it is something I'll think about.

A very interesting pairing would be Will with Irma (Thanks Lord of Darkness). I can very easily see that happening, not that I think the two swing that way but I can easily see them as going bi as it would be much easier on them because they wouldn't have to hide anything from prospective partners as the lies they would have to tell other people could very easily destroy that relationship. Either way, by the end of the story Will, at the very least will have a strong sisterly bond with Irma though when Will finds out who her dad is Will may be kind of upset.

Lastly but not least of all is pairing Will with no one for this story which may be a very good idea also. (Thanks Sokai). Will is working through a lot of crap right now and may not have time or the energy for a relationship at the moment much less the trust she would need for one as at the moment the only one she truly trusts is Susan.

La La La: Sorry, this is mostly influenced by the comics so no Will Caleb. Thankies.

Godchiller: Thankies and Mat is a good possibility.

Anon: Thankies, another vote for Matt.

Draco 1000: Aldarn could be a good alternative, thankies.

Dark Star: Thankies, unfortunately it may be difficult for a Phobos for this story but after watching the episode near the end of season two I do have a good idea for a Phobos Will story I may write later.

Riot: Thankies, one question though, who is Sheila? Sorry, my mind abandons me sometimes and I can't remember who that was. Thanks, I love angsty stories and I wanted her to have already met Irma's dad to cause possible stress between them later. Please tell me who Sheila is though, I'd really like to know and may be able to work her in.


	4. It Begins & It Resumes part 4

Thursday morning had actually went pretty well though Will was dreading what they had to do next. Sure she knew that it was necessary but Will didn't particularly want to register for school today, tomorrow or ever again because she didn't want to go through all the crap of everyone using her as a verbal punching bag and even possibly their physical punching bag,

Susan squeezed Will's shoulder in reassurance though she couldn't help being nervous about this. There was another point though that was really bothering Will and it was something that really wasn't a part of her other possibly irrational fears. Registering for school here meant requesting her transcripts be sent from her old school and if her father got wind of it he would know where they went.

"Mom, can't I just get a GED off the internet?" Will asked looking at her mother as they walked into the gates and into the courtyard of Sheffield institute, a school that housed both middle and high schools into one since the town wasn't big enough to warrant separate ones really.

"No you can't get a GED off the internet." Susan sighed shaking her head, "Will, what's gotten into you?"

"Mom, have you thought about what happens when they send for my records?" Will asked stopping before they reached the doors of the main building where the offices were probably at. "He's going to find us."

"Sweetie, he isn't going to find us." Susan said hugging Will tightly. "The school wouldn't let him find out, they know he's not allowed."

"Good morning, may I help you?" An older woman with graying hair and glasses in a gray dress suit with skirt asked as she walked out the door.

"Good morning, Missus Knickerbocker I presume?" Susan said looking up at the woman.

"Yes, and you are?" Missus Knickerbocker asked raising an eyebrow.

"Susan Vandom, I'm here to enroll my daughter." Susan said indicating Will.

"Ah yes, young Wilhelmina Vandom that you called about a couple days ago." Missus Knickerbocker asked smiling warmly at Will.

"Please call me Will." Will said softly, she hated her full name. As if she didn't get enough attention already in school she didn't need to make it worse but going by her full, weird name. What the hell was her mother thinking anyways when she named her. Couldn't her mother come up with something much more simple like May or Lisa? Anything would have been better than Wilhelmina.

"Of course." Missus Knickerbocker said with a soft smile, "Will you be attending today?"

"Can she wait until Monday?" Susan asked causing Will to smile in relief.

"Of course though we are having the Halloween dance tomorrow night if you would like to attend." Missus Knickerbocker said smiling opening the door for the Vandom women. "Come on in and e will get your registered."

The whole process took only about thirty minutes leaving Susan and the newest member of Sheffield's student body exiting the office with a throng of students milling around in the hall.

"Hey Will!" Hay Lin cried happily throwing herself at Will and wrapping her arms around the redhead's neck causing them to spin around a few times before Will woozily settled standing with Hay Lin laughing in front of her. "So are you starting school today? What classes did you get?"

"I'm starting Monday." Will said, "I'll be getting my schedule Monday before classes."

"You have to come- to the party tomorrow night!" Hay Lin cried excitedly.

"Tone it down a bit Hay." Irma said rubbing her ears and joining the three.

"Maybe it would be a good idea for you to go." Susan suggested, "Get out and make some friends."

"Yeah, and I can design your costume!" Hay Lin said excitedly while bouncing from foot to foot, "It'll be great, I promise. A Hay Lin original!"

"Hay Lin loved designing new stuff, she actually makes a lot of the clothes she wears." Irma said.

"Come to the Silver Dragon after school is over and we can work on it." Hay Lin said as the bell rang.

"But…" Will tried to say but was interrupted by the bubbly Asian girl.

"See you tonight Will, we have to get to class!" Hay Lin said hugging Will before taking off.

"Later Will." Irma said hurrying after Hay Lin.

"Yeah, later." Will said half heartedly. She wasn't sure she wanted to go but she was apparently roped into it.

"It's great you already made a couple good friends, Will." Susan said happily ruffling the redhead's hair.

"Yeah, great." Will sighed.

WITCH

"Do you have the money?" The secretary asked as she stood outside the building in the alley on the side during her break meeting with Tony Vandom. He was ecstatic to finally have what he wanted, they key to reclaim what was his. His trashy wife and daughter belonged to him and it pissed him off that not only did they have the gull to get a restraining order and basically end up costing him his bar certification so he couldn't practice law anymore but they thought the could run away and hide. Well he had news for them, he was going to make them suffer for the shit they caused him and he was going to enjoy it.

"Here." Tony said handing a bank envelope to the woman. He may have lost his license but he still had plenty of money in the bank and a lot of pull in town.

"Let me double check it first." The woman said opening the end and fingering through the bills before smiling and handing Tony the file she was carrying. "That's just a copy, they might notice if the original is missing but it has everything you wanted to know in it."

Tony smirked as he opened the folder and leafed through the papers. Apparently Susan had transferred to Heatherfield's branch of Simultech and he had to laugh, he always knew there wasn't a snowball's chance in hell of her getting a good position. She was working in the mail room which caused him to snicker.

"Wait a minute, her address isn't in here." Tony said.

"Sorry, she hasn't put in the change of address, she has ninety days to do that." The secretary said backing away from the angry look in Tony eyes as he advanced on her.

"Worthless piece of shit." Tony snarled backhanding the woman hard knocking her back against the wall. He reached out and grabbed the envelope full of money and grabbed her by the throat. "Where do you get of trying to screw with me you stupid bitch!"

"I'm n-not." The woman cried, trying to pry his fingers away from her throat.

"Filthy little whore, if I wasn't in a hurry I'd show you what the only thing something like you is good for." Tony snarled, a deranged look entering his eyes before dropping the woman letting her slump to the ground. He turned to walk away but spun around delivering a strong kick to the side of her head knocking her on her side and forcing her to lose consciousness. Shaking his head in amusement he walked out of the alley both with his money and the information he needed.

They didn't and couldn't pin that stripper's murder on him and they wouldn't be able to pin that worthless secretaries on him. And when he finished with his worthless wife and daughter they wouldn't be able to pin it on him and he could get his life and certification back and go on with his life with all of his mistakes erased permanently.

WITCH

Will wasn't sure why she was here standing outside the Silver Dragon. Sure she was invited here but she wasn't sure if she could trust Hay Lin and them yet, it was something she wanted to do but she didn't want to be hurt again but their was a chance of everything turning out good for once. Surely she finally deserved something good after all the bad she had to endure lately.

"You must be Will." A girl with a pink jacket and ankle length denim skirt said. She had long blonde hair and blue eyes and seemed to have a regal air surrounding her. "I'm Cornelia Hale, welcome to Heatherfield, one of the most boring places on Earth."

"I could use some boring in my life." Will said rubbing her left arm with her right hand shifting her weight on her feet nervously. The way the blond was looking at her was making the redhead nervous.

"Well come on, its getting a little chilly out so let's get inside." Cornelia said dragging Will inside and through the service door into the kitchen where an older Asian couple were cooking. "Hey Mister and Missus Lin, is Hay Hay here?"

"Of course honey, they are upstairs in Hay Lin's room. Go on up." The woman said with a smile handing Will a large platter with almond cookies as Cornelia took the tray the man handed her holding a tea set.

"Here." The woman said sitting another cup on Cornelia's tray. "You must be Will, Hay Lin has told us a lot about you."

"R-Really?" Will asked curiously though a little scared of what Hay Lin could have said.

"Yeah, said you came from Fadden Hills. I hope you like it here." The woman said shooing them toward the stairs.

"Wow, you came from Fadden Hills?" Cornelia asked excitedly as they ascended the stairs "I wish I lived there, only the most fashionable people live there."

"Yeah, its great." Will sighed, she never liked it and what Cornelia said wasn't really true. The truth was that was where all the snobs and preps lived and a part of Will was ashamed that she ever tried to e a part of that crowd as she never liked it. She just wanted to be accepted and have friends which she thought she had until learning they never really cared and always made fun of her behind her back.

"Good, you're here and you brought young Will with you." Yan Lin said smiling as Cornelia and Will entered the room. The old woman was sitting on the edge of a bed while Hay Lin was sitting on the bench near the window while Irma leaned against it sitting on the floor while Taranee leaned against the bed next to Yan Lin's feet. Cornelia and Will sat the trays down on a low table between them as everyone but Yan Lin kneeled down around it.

Will looked around the room in surprise and envy at the sheer size of the room, besides the bed and bench and small table there was a desk with computer, a drawing table and an easel as well as all kinds of art supplies as well as posters and drawing as well as what looked like clothes designs. Besides that there was a ton of stuffed animals covering almost any empty surface including most of the bed.

"Girls, we need to have a serious discussion but it must be kept a secret." Yan Lin, "I need each of you to give me your word that you won't tell anyone without good reason what we talk about here."

As everyone gave their promise Will couldn't help but feel honored that they would trust her enough for this. As she realized everyone was watching her waiting for her response she finally nodded her head.

"Good, if I'm correct all of you have been experiencing strange things." Yan Lin said, "And have been having dreams with a certain jewel being at the center of them." Slowly Yan Lin opened the small chest that was in her lap and carefully brought out a necklace with a small pendant that was pulsating with a pink light. "This is the Heart of Candracar."

"Th-That's what I was trapped in in my dream." Will gasped in shock.

"Let me tell you all a little story, a true story about another world called Meridian and something that we know as the veil which separates that world from ours." Yan Lin said smiling as she continued to fill the girls in on everything about Candracar, Meridian, the veil and their powers and responsibilities as guardians.

NOTES

Thanks Fantasywriter13 for pointing out how hard it is to tell the notes and story apart so I changed the last break to NOTES instead of WITCH, hope this works better. Please R&R everyone.

Xfilesoc: Thankies but I'm not sure if a Phobos pairing will be possible in this story but I am planning two more witch stories, one a Phobos and Will pairing and the other an Irma and Will pairing that I hope everyone will love.


	5. It Begins & It Resumes part 5

There will be a few times I jump ahead in time because most of what happens in those time jumps are what happened in the first two episodes of W.i.t.c.h. If anyone doesn't like me doing that or think I should go back and include those parts just let me know and I will. Just thought it would be a little redundant to include a lot of writing that would pretty much mimic the cartoon.

Will stared slack jawed at the area that a brown haired boy and a strange lizard like monster was just moments before Will was able to close the portal. Even after everything Yan Lin had told them, the fact that they were able to transform and the fact that transformation had beefed up their weird abilities there was some part of Will that kept telling her that the whole idea of another world with monsters in it.

"He's gone." Cornelia said, her voice steadily growing louder and louder "That thing took him. This is your fault Will!"

"What?" Will squeaked in surprise as the blonde got into Will's face scaring her a little.

"I can't believe you let that thing take him. Who knows what it's doing to him!" Cornelia growled.

"Cornelia, stop it." Hay Lin said.

"Yeah Corny, we are all new at this how did you expect Will to do any more than any of the rest of us." Irma snapped, "Damn, we've only had the Heart a few hours and that was the first time we even seen a portal."

"Well if she didn't stand there like some worthless bump on a log we could have saved him!" Cornelia growled.

"I'm not worthless!" Will screamed angrily shoving Cornelia, surprising the blonde enough to trip and fall back on her ass. Will glared at the blonde as tears started to fall, angrily wiping them away she turned away from Cornelia and the others and walked off.

"Will, don't, please." Irma called running up to grab Will's hand.

"Don't touch me!" Will cried yanking her hand away from Irma. "I can't believe I trusted you. I was stupid to ever trust YOU!"

"Please don't walk away from us." Hay Lin pleaded.

"Will, please, we need you." Taranee begged hurrying in front of Will and looked sadly into the redhead's eyes.

"Taranee, get out of my way." Will growled as she rubbed the tears from her eyes.

"Will, don't let Corny get to you, she always gets her panties in a bunch like this." Irma said.

"Look Will, I'm sorry." Cornelia said, anger still plainly in her voice though it was laced with a hint of concern.

"Good bye." Will simply stated shoving past the girls, pausing long enough to turn around and flip them the bird before storming off.

"Good job, Corny!" Irma snapped turning to glare at the blonde who was staring in shock at the retreating form of the redhead.

"How was I supposed to know Will was going to go psycho like that!" Cornelia snapped.

"Please, just stop it." Hay Lin begged on the verge of tears herself. She really liked Will and wanted to be friends and now thanks to this foolishness she may have lost that chance.

WITCH

Will couldn't believe how stupid she was, she had actually let her mom talk her into giving those girls a chance. She was squeezing the Heart tightly in her hand wanting to just throw it away from her as far as possible but every time she tried she couldn't bring herself to do it as it would feel like she was throwing away a very important part of herself.

"Hi honey." Susan said as soon as Will walked into their small apartment. Will had decided before she even reached their new home, if they could call it that, that she wouldn't burden her mother with her problems since the elder Vandom had enough to deal with as it was.

"Hey mom." Will said hugging the woman who after a few seconds hugged back.

"Not that I'm complaining or anything Will but what was that for?" Susan asked with a bright smile as the two pulled apart.

"Just cause I love you." Will said smiling back. "Its been a long day and I already ate at Hay Lin's so I might go ahead and hit the sack for the night." 

"I think I might join you." Susan said, yawning a little. "I haven't slept a whole lot last night."

WITCH

"You must apologize to Will, without her you can't change to your guardian forms and won't have any chance of rescuing that boy you told me about." Yan Lin sighed as she rubbed her face. How could they have their guardian powers for a few hours and already messed up by driving the Keeper away. Then again, she should have known that Cornelia would end up snapping at the redhead sooner or later devastating her.

The Oracle had shown Yan Lin some of what Will had to endure before moving to Heatherfield but the elder woman didn't do much yet to help though she was planning to though it would have to be slow so not to scare her away. Will had some major trust issues and frankly Yan Lin couldn't blame her and as much as Yan Lin had come to care greatly for the redhead through the scenes the Oracle had shown her and the small amount of time they interacted, Yan Lin thought it was a bad choice to pick Will as the Keeper of the Heart. The girl needed a place to belong with true friends to support her not the stress that being the Keeper would bring. In the end though it was the Oracles decision though and out of Yan Lin's hands.

All Yan Lin could do was pray that Will wouldn't snap and become a monster like the elder woman's old friend did. She never blamed Nerissa for it, not even for the needless death of Cassidy. None of the last generation of guardians blamed her. By the time Nerissa had descended into madness the could tell it was no longer Nerissa. No, it was some monster that the powers of the Heart created by twisting Nerissa's desires until it drove the woman mad.

"We tried." Taranee sighed looking at a spot on the table.

"Damn it Corny, this is your fault." Irma said shooting glares at the blonde girl. Yan Lin smiled to herself at the display of protectiveness the water guardian showed their newest friend. In fact, Yan Lin's own granddaughter and Irma both had protective streaks of the redhead a mile wide. Yan Lin had a feeling that the water guardian's interests was a bit more than friendship though.

"Now girls, as the guardians of the veil you must have harmony." Yan Lin said looking across the table at each guardians face, studying the blonde's face carefully. Cornelia seemed genuinely sorry for what she had inadvertently said and caused. Yan Lin may have sounded a little cruel about thinking that it was good that the earth guardian was feeling bad. In Yan Lin's mind it was a good thing, it showed that the girl was truly growing up and maturing, growing out of the selfish prep faze Yan Lin had worked so hard of breaking the girl of.

"Sorry grandmother." Hay Lin said rubbing her eyes. Yan Lin hated seeing her granddaughter like this, the girl loved her friends so much, even ones she just met that she would hurt just the same. Hay Lin was someone who would walk through hell itself to help one of her friends. Yan Lin had no doubt that Hay Lin would be a great guardian and successor.

"We don't know where she lives or we would go apologize now." Cornelia sighed.

"Let's just go home and get some rest, we'll see if we can't find her tomorrow after school." Taranee said, the other reluctantly agreeing.

WITCH

Friday morning found Will reluctantly making her way to the Silver Dragon early in hopes to catch Hay Lin before the girl left for school. She wasn't sure why she wanted to see the girl but she could feel both Irma and Hay Lin hurting over what happened the night before.

She turned down the alley heading toward the restaurant passing a tall blonde haired man, his long hair tied back as he looked at her strangely. He was giving her the creeps so she quickened her pace but he quickly crossed the distance separating the two and grabbed her slamming her to the wall.

"I have you now, girl." The man said, almost as if he was hissing.

"Let me go." Will demanded struggling to break his vice like grip on her. "You're with my father, aren't you!"

"Foolish guardian, I could care less about your family." The man sneered, "Nor do I give a damn about you but my Prince requests your presence."

"Well I'm not interested in seeing him." Will sneered.

"Do you think I care what you want?" The man said dragging Will through a portal .

"Let me go!" Will screamed trying to pull away before being jerked roughly into the portal.

WITCH

"Let me go!" Will's voice screamed from the alley that ran along the Silver Dragon that Hay Lin was passing by. Turning down the alley Hay Lin saw a flash of light then nothing. Walking carefully down the ally keeping an eye out for anything and unfortunately finding something. There on the ground was the pulsating Heart of Candracar. Picking it up she could see an image in it and it turned her blood cold, the same monster that took the boy was dragging Will through a stone corridor with torches on either side lighting the hallway up.

"Oh god, Will." Hay Lin choked, "Hold on, we're coming."

WITCH

The meeting with Prince Phobos didn't go well when he found out that Will didn't have the Heart on her. In fact she had lost it somewhere, most likely during the trouble with snakeman which scared her. Talking with kitchen appliances wasn't going to save her and without the Heart she couldn't access her other powers.

"In you go, guardian." Cedric snarled shoving Will of the edge of the pit where they had the rebel leader stuck in also. She cried in surprise when Cedric unceremoniously shoved her off the ledge and into the deep pit to land on something soft.

"Do you think you can get off me?" A male voice said from under Will.

"Sorry." Will mumbled as she climbed to her feet and looked at the boy getting up. He was the boy that the snakeman that she now knew as Cedric had captured at the portal when they were practicing their guardian abilities.

"You, aren't you one of the guardians?" The boy asked a little shocked.

"Yeah, so what?" Will asked, a little surprised until she remembered what Yan Lin had said. The glamour when in guardian form only affected people from earth since the people from Meridian had absorbed enough of the veil's energies over the years that any glamour from the Heart would easily be looked through.

"Great, then you can transform and get us out of here." The boy said as a strange looking creature that smelled worse than three garbage dumps combined made it's presence noticed.

"Blunk want out to." The thing said.

"Sorry, I lost the Heart." Will sighed slumping to the ground and leaning against the wall.

"You lost the heart?" The boy asked in disbelief, "How could you lose the heart? I can't believe this, we need saviors and they send us ditzy teenage girls."

"Hey buddy, I'm a guardian of the veil, your just some boy in a hole." Will snapped angrily.

"At least I didn't lose the Heart!" The boy snapped back before calming down, "Its okay, the others will probably come to get you."

"They couldn't care less about me." Will sighed wondering how long she would be held prisoner here. She was sure that they wouldn't come looking for her, she was basically nothing to them. Why would they risk their lives for someone they barely knew a week?

NOTES

Riot: Thanks, he will be a jerk in this story. As for the meeting not going too smoothly, I don't think Will will be able to completely trust them yet still. The party will happening in another chapter or two so I hope you enjoy it. Thanks for your help with Sheila but your e-mail didn't go through and if it wouldn't be too much trouble could you please send it again? Thankies.

Funky Dude: She won't be paired with anyone quite yet but when she gets settled in it'll be possible. There will be a little with Matt though he won't be who Will is paired with when all is said and done, sorries. I hope you will still like this story though, thankies.


	6. It Begins & It Resumes part 6

"I can't believe we're doing this." Cornelia mumbled while rubbing her nose, surprisingly it was what hurt the most when she slammed into the wall when they swung across the moat to a balcony of the dark castle that the little pendant led them to.

"We have to save her, Corny, she's our friend." Irma said.

"Speak for yourself, if she never came here then none of this would have ever happened." Cornelia mumbled though her voice held no conviction to it the girl still managed to set Irma off.

"If you don't give a damn about her why did you even bother coming, Corny!" Irma snapped causing the other two girls to cringe.

"You know if you two don't stop fighting over this they are going to know that we are here." Taranee said looking over to Hay Lin who was holding the chain that the Heart was attached to while the pendant pulled at the end of it trying to go ahead toward where Will had to have been being held.

"Sorry." Both Irma and Cornelia sighed at the same time. Hay Lin could tell that the truth was all four of the girls was worried about the redhead, especially after what happened last night when the newest girl had took off from the group after something stupid the blonde had said. Will hadn't hung around with the small group to realize that Cornelia often said selfish and stupid things but deep down the girl had a heart of gold and would do anything to help a friend. Heck, the way Irma and Cornelia often clashed one would thing they were the most bitter of enemies but that was as far from the truth as you could get as the two were best of friends. In fact the whole group was best of friends and despite what Will may have been thinking they loved the redhead for herself and not for being the Keeper of the Heart.

The small group came to a staircase that spiraled down into almost total darkness, the only light seemed to come from torches on the wall that seemed to be few and far apart. Nervously the four girls started to descend the stairs huddling close together as they carefully and quietly made their way down for what seemed like forever until finally coming out to a room with cages hanging over multiple pits.

"Its okay, the others will probably come to get you." A male voice came up from one of the pits.

"They couldn't care less about me." Another voice said, a feminine voice that was familiar to them all but the sadness and hopelessness in it sent shivers up each of the girls' back.

WITCH

"I'm sure that's not true." The boy said looking down at Will. She pulled her knees to her chest and hid her face in her knees as she fought off any tears not wanting to show any more weakness than she had in front of this boy. In fact she probably shouldn't even have let her guard down as much as she had, there was no telling what he would do to her given the chance.

"Just drop it, okay." Will said, her voice a little muffled. "They picked the wrong girl to be Keeper of the Heart. They don't need some worthless girl who screws up everything."

"You are not worthless, Will." A voice called from up above.

"Hay Lin?" Will asked in surprise jumping to her feet.

"We're all here, Will." Cornelia called.

"We brought you something." Irma called.

"Hurry up and change so we can get out of here." Taranee called, "This place is so creepy1"

"You all came for me." Will cried, shocked though touched that they seemed to care enough about her to risk their lives to come save her.

"Damn right we did, we're friends!" Irma said.

"Heads up Will." Hay Lin called dropping the Heart which slowly floated down to Will who caught it thankfully.

"Guardians…UNITE!" Will cried thrusting the heart out before her, five tear shaped balls of energy flew from the heart, circling it several times before shooting out in five different directions with each one striking a different girl encasing them in a cocoon of energy. Moments later the energy cocoons shattered leaving the girls in guardian form.

"FIRE!"

"EARTH!"

"WATER!"

"AIR!"

"QUINTESSENCE!"

"Great, now fly me out of here." The boy said.

"Blunk too, Blunk want out of here." Blunk said dancing around the two at the bottom of the pit.

"I don't know if I can carry you." Will said.

"I have an idea, get up here Will." Irma called. Will floated to the top as Irma called up her powers and started filling the pit with water. "I hope your boyfriend can swim Will."

"He isn't my boyfriend!" Will snapped, rubbing her arm as she usually did when nervous. She wasn't sure why she was nervous now exactly other than the thought that the group of girls were going to be angry at her for running away. Then again it was their fault that she did anyways even if Cornelia did pretty much hit the nail on the head about what Will believed deep down what she was actually worth.

"Chill Will, I didn't mean to insult you." Irma said looking worriedly at the redhead.

"Will, sometimes friends say stupid things or have fights but that doesn't mean that they don't care." Cornelia said softly coming up from behind Will and putting her hand on Will's shoulder squeezing gently. "Look at Irma and myself, we are constantly bickering but we are still best of friends."

"You don't know me though." Will whispered.

"They don't really know me either Will, I just moved here to but I can tell how much they care for me and for you." Taranee said smiling, "We may not have known you for long but we all feel it, we're like sisters, all five of us."

"We all love you Will." Irma said turning red a little.

"Enough girl talk, lets get the heck out of here." Caleb said throwing the small creature onto the ground before pulling himself up onto dry land looking a little angry before spotting the blonde causing his scowl to soften to be replaced by a look of confusion.

"H-Hi, my name is Cornelia Hale, Guardian of Earth." Cornelia said smiling a little though her own blush was taking up her face. "I know this will sound stupid but have we met before?"

"Actually I was going to ask the same thing." The boy said smiling at Cornelia, "You can call me Caleb."

"Me Blunk." The little creature said taking Cornelia's hand. It was almost possible to see the blonde's hair rise a little as she turned green and pinched her nose shut.

"Haven't you ever heard of a bath?" Cornelia gasped while trying not to throw up.

"INTRUDERS!" A large, brownish green skinned man called coming into the chamber.

"Irma, Hay Lin, can you do something about them?" Will asked becoming serious.

"Sure thing." Irma said grinning blasting the thing back out the door with a high pressure stream of water before Hay Lin blew an artic wind at the stream creating a several foot thick block of ice blocking the door.

"Great, now how do we get out of here?" Cornelia asked rolling her eyes at what she believed was a stupid mistake.

"Blunk know other way out, show you if you take Blunk with you." Blunk said.

"Then lets go!" Will smiled before they group followed the small creature though they had to keep their noses covered from the stench that the putrid thing trailed behind it. "Damn air currents."

WITCH

Tony smirked to himself as he relaxed his arm letting the needle and syringe drop to the floor. He could feel the conflicted effects of the drug he had injected into himself, the rush of power and anger while at the same time the he felt the soothing high affects that would only last a few minutes while the anger would last hours if not a few days. He knew he was addicted to the stuff but he didn't care, it was one of the few things left in his life after his wife and daughter betrayed him and abandoned him. As if they thought they could leave him without any repercussions. No, there was going to be repercussions and those two would pay just like every other worthless piece of trash that crossed his path.

It would be a few days if not a week before he could go to Heatherfield though since he had to wait to see if the private detective could find anything about the locations of the two uncaring bitches. He couldn't spend too long in the small town as he had to be back here quickly so not to rouse suspicions of it being him as if they would be able to pin it on him. Wave a few bucks at a cop and they quickly changed their tunes so fast it was ridiculous.

"Tony my man, you need to try this new shit I got." His friend laughed walking into the living room where Tony was inclining in a recliner in his lavish apartment. He knew if he kept spending money on these things he would quickly run out since he could no longer practice law thanks to those two worthless bitches. If it wasn't for their lies he would still have his job and have plenty of money for his habits.

"What is it?" Tony asked as the police officer tossed him a baggie of white powder. He recognized the powder and while not as strong as the drug he had just taken it did have a longer lasting high. "Nice score, man."

"Hah, you know I get all this crap for free." The officer laughed. Tony knew the man pocketed at least half of all the drugs he came across and often shared them with Tony. In fact if it wasn't for the man Tony would still be rotting in that damned jail cell his stupid daughter had caused him to end up in.

"Tony, I know you're planning something stupid but if you get caught out of my jurisdiction I can't help you." The officer sighed rubbing his face.

"Don't worry, I won't get caught." Tony sneered, "I'm just planning on showing my pathetic family a little tough love."

"Man, don't do something that's going to land your ass in jail." The officer said though he plainly didn't gave a damn one way or another making Tony smile even more nastily.

WITCH

The group was finally back on Earth at the Silver Dragon enjoying a little celebratory meal except for two, Cornelia had ended up dragging Will off to the side so they could talk privately for a few minutes.

"Will, I wanted to apologize personally if I hurt you yesterday." Cornelia said sadly, "I really do like you and I guess I did what I do more than I like. I let my mouth run off before thinking."

"Don't worry, Cornelia." Will sighed, "I know I'm not exactly the brightest girl on Earth or worth that much."

"Who the hell told you that?" Cornelia asked looking into the depressive eyes of the tired red haired girl.

"Cornelia, I'm not stupid enough to not realize that what I am." Will sighed, "I really try my best but I always end up screwing up."

"That isn't true." Cornelia said pulling the slightly shorter redhead into a strong embrace, "You give yourself far too little credit girl."

"You don't understand Cornelia, most everything bad that happened to my mom is MY fault. If it wasn't for me then she might actually be happy right now." Will said pulling away from the embrace.

"Did she tell you that load of bullshit?" Cornelia asked a little angrier than she meant to.

"No, she always tells me that I'm not the cause of everything." Will sighed.

"Will, what's going on?" Cornelia asked in concern and for just a few moments thought the redhead may actually open up and talk a little about her past.

"Cornelia…" Will said softly before steeling her eyes, "It's none of your business so leave me alone!"

"Will." Cornelia sighed sadly as her newest friend walked slowly back toward the small celebration going on.

"Guess what, Will!" Hay Lin exclaimed showing the redhead her palm with the letter W. I. T. C. H. written in purple ink. "Our initials spell witch, isn't that so cool?"

NOTES

A little note about a scene that I didn't show. Instead of Vathek giving Caleb the key secretly they unchained him just to give him a little hope of climbing out just so they could laugh at him when he realized it was impossible. Vathek is not Caleb's friend right now as he will be based more from the Vathek from the comics.


	7. Wolf Among the Sheep part 1

Will couldn't believe how beautiful she was in the dress Hay Lin had made for her in just one night. Apparently the Asian girl had stayed up late working on both Will's costume and Hay Lin's at the same time though the red head was shocked that even though the smaller girl never asked for measurements she was still able to create something this beautiful. The dress was a little tight though it just helped to show off the redhead's beautiful figure that Will kept denying having. The dress was ankle length that had slits running up both sides to just above the knee and had billowing sleeves and a dark cloak hanging of her shoulders. On her feet she wore two inch heels and a black choker with a small silver pendant around her neck. She had dark eye shadow and lipstick on as well as fingernail polish. She was wearing a pointed black witches hat to finish off the ensemble. Hay Lin's costume was just as beautiful being a modified kimono making the dark haired girl have an ethereal beauty.

"I need to run home before going to the school." Will said adjusting her hat.

"Irma's dad is going to come pick us up and drop us off at the school." Hay Lin said, "We can drop you off long enough to talk to your mom."

"Don't worry about it, we have an hour until the party starts." Will said.

"Where do you live anyways?" Hay Lin asked sitting on the edge of her bed and looked up at Will who couldn't seem to bring herself away from the mirror.

"I…I can't remember the address." Will sighed, her expression turning downcast before she finally turned to face Hay Lin with a false smile, "Thanks so much for the costume Hay Lin."

"It's no big deal." Hay Lin smiled, "I made everyone's costume this year. "Irma will be wearing a two tone peasant dress, Taranee as Amelia Earhart, Cornelia a purple princess gown and Elyon a tree nymph."

"Elyon?" Will asked perplexed.

"Yeah, she's another of our friends though not really a part of the group. She's more like a sister to Cornelia though, they been friends since before they even started going to school." Hay Lin explained.

"I better get going but I'll meet you at the party." Will said.

"If you don't remember the address how about just telling me where it's at, we can pick you up." Hay Lin tried.

"I don't have time, Hay Lin." Will said a little anger in her voice as she was leaving the room, "I'll see you at the party."

"Sure." Hay Lin sighed as she got up to see her friend out.

Will didn't get too far as she left the Silver Dragon before her mom pulled up in their old station wagon next to her.

"I'm glad I found you, Will." Susan said happily as Will climbed in the car. "Are you still going to that party tonight?"

"Yeah, if you don't mind." Will said.

"Of course I don't dear but…I met one of your teachers today. He invited me to come tonight and help chaperone since they were a little short handed." Susan said watching Will's expression carefully. Will only smiled truthfully as she looked up in surprise at her mother, "I think that would be cool."

"I was a little worried that you would be a little upset about me coming." Susan said a little nervously. Susan was wearing her charcoal gray business suit with knee length skirt and pumps and though it was a little old it still looked really good on the older woman.

"Of course not, mom." Will laughed, "It's not like your dating one of my teachers, your just getting out a little tonight."

"Yeah." Susan said with a nervous laugh that Will thankfully ignored. It wasn't much later that they arrived at the school and pulled into the parking lot where a multitude of other cars were. It was still a little time before the party officially started but apparently there was already a lot of people there including several adults that Will assumed was teachers. "Ready honey?"

"Sure, lets go." Will said as the two climbed out of the car and made there way through the lot and into the courtyard where there was a huge jack-o-lantern. Will wasn't sure if it was real or not because while it looked real it was as tall as she was.

"Susan, I'm so glad you could make it." A tall, lanky man with brown hair and a mustache wearing a bad vampire costume said with a huge beaming smile. Will had to admit the guy was kinda cute. "And this must be your daughter, as beautiful as her mother."

"Oh Dean, stop it, your embarrassing me." Susan said blushing a little making Will wonder if maybe there was more between the two adults than just acquaintances or friends which worried Will for a few moments until she realized her mom would have told her if there was something more going on.

"Hey Will!" Taranee called walking over to take Will's hand pulling her over toward one of the refreshment tables. "Going to borrow your daughter for awhile Missus Vandom."

"Have fun girls." Susan called after the two.

Will let Taranee drag her over to the table where two blondes were waiting, one Cornelia and the other must have been Elyon from her friend's descriptions. Unlike Cornelia's golden blonde hair though Elyon had more of a silvery blonde hair.

"Hi, you must be Will." The girl said, "I'm Elyon Brown."

"Yeah, Will Vandom." Will said.

"A Hay Lin original, huh?" Elyon asked laughing a little. Will started to get a little upset at first thinking that the girl was making fun of Will, "She is so the best, she's designed all of her costumes for the last several years. I swear these are going to be worth millions in a few years when she hits it big."

"They are great, I couldn't believe she made them all by hand." Will smiles while relaxing, apparently the girl didn't mean anything by laughing.

"She can whip together something like this in just a couple hours, she just so natural at it." Elyon said.

"Well if it isn't the little lesbians." A spiky orange haired boy sneered walking toward them surrounded on either side by two large boys.

"Piss off, outfielder." Cornelia sneered right back, "The only trash around here is you and your cronies."

"I should…" The orange haired boy growled cracking his knuckles.

"Should what?" Cornelia asked smiling sweetly though it was obviously false while Taranee and Will backed up a little nervous while Elyon just stood impassively next to Cornelia.

"If your little lezzy friend's dad wasn't a cop I'd show you girls some real fun and what you've been missing." The boy said leering a the girls.

"You have three seconds to get the hell away from us before I introduce you to the punch bowl." Cornelia growled as Will's stomach dropped, she knew she just didn't hear that.

"Fine, I'm out of here." The boy snarled storming off with the two large boys following like a couple of dogs.

"Is it true?" Will asked nervously while silently praying it wasn't.

"Eww, no we aren't lesbians." Elyon said pretending to gag.

"Not that." Will snapped, "Is Irma's dad a cop?"

"Yeah, he's a captain." Cornelia said as if it was common knowledge. Well, it was for her maybe but for Will it was crushing news.

"Why, what's wrong with being a cop?" Taranee asked obviously realizing that something was wrong with Will.

"Are you kidding, cops are lazy bastard who only care about doughnuts and money." Will growled angrily.

"Don't you dare talk about him like that." Elyon snapped growing angry herself, "Mister Lair is a great cop."

"Hey girls." Irma smiled walking up to them with Hay Lin.

"Glad you could make it." Hay Lin said happily before the two stopped noticing the tension between the group.

"What's wrong?" Irma asked.

"Nothing." Will snapped pushing past Irma and into the increasing crowd of people.

She couldn't believe she was actually starting to like Irma, the girl was the daughter of a cop and was probably just as bad as that bastard was. Either that or maybe the water guardian was just as much of a victim as Will was herself. She wasn't sure which she hoped for more, Irma seemed really cool and fun and Will really liked the girl which made this all the harder but if she was like her dad then that meant their friendship was all a lie. Then again if she was a victim like Will then that was something she would never wish on anyone else but then Irma was truly her friend and not planning to betray her.

"Are you okay?" A boy asked wearing a baggy red shirt and jeans. He had brown eyes and long shaggy brown hair and he was a major hottie.

"Peachy." Will sighed.

"Want to talk about it?" The boy asked, "I'm Matt Olsen, you new here?"

"Yeah, names Will Vandom but no offense I don't really feel like talking about it." Will sighed.

"That's cool, want to hang out with me for awhile before we have to play?" Matt asked smiling hopefully.

"You pervert!" Will growled brushing brightly.

"How is my band playing perverted?" Matt asked confused, scratching the back of his neck before realization hit, "NO! No, I didn't mean that, my bands playing tonight and I wanted to know if you wanted to hang with me until we had to start."

"S-Sorry." Stuttered in embarrassment, her face turning the color of her hair.

"So your friends with the girls over there?" Matt asked smiling as he indicated the group of girls talking where Will just left.

"I don't know." Will sighed.

"Hey, if what Uriah said is bothering you it's not true, the girls are more like sisters than just friends." Matt said, "They aren't gay though there really isn't anything wrong with someone who is. I'm not prejudiced against anyone, as long as what people are doesn't hurt anyone I think it's cool."

"Thanks but that isn't what's bothering me." Will sighed.

"It's cool if you don't want to talk about it." Matt said, "I'd be more than willing to listen if you ever needed it."

"Thanks I guess." Will sighed.

"Hey, do you want to go out tomorrow night when I get off work?" Matt asked.

"I…I guess." Will said while mentally smacking herself as she wasn't sure what she was thinking. She didn't want to go out with this boy but she had to admit he seemed really nice but she wasn't sure if she was comfortable going on a date with him.

"Sorry Will, I have to go but meet me at Olsen's Pet Shop tomorrow at six and we'll grab a bite to eat." Matt said before running off toward the temporary stage that had been erected for the party.

"Wow, this is so awesome Will." Irma said from just behind Will causing the redhead to jump in shock.

"Irma, you scared the hell out of me, don't do that." Will snapped.

"Sorry Will." Irma said giggling.

"Irma, can I ask you something really important and you'll tell me the truth?" Will asked.

"Sure thing, Will." Irma said, "Is this about what's bothering you?"

"Yeah, what do you think about your dad?" Will asked.

"Don't you dare tell him this but I'm proud of him, he's one of the best cops in the city." Irma said smiling.

"He really is a cop then?" Will asked her spirits once again falling as she looked sadly at the girl who Will originally thought could have become a great friend.

"The best." Irma smiled sincerely which wiped any doubt in Will's mind, Irma wasn't a victim but most likely a traitor and hypocrite like all cops. Heck, she'd probably grow up to be just as bad as her father the cop.

"So he's the laziest bastard of them all?" Will asked, anger taking control as she glared hatefully at Irma.

"Will, my dad isn't lazy, he's a good cop." Irma said a little hurt by the redhead's tirade.

"Irma, all cops are worthless lazy pieces of shit!" Will snapped causing several people around her to stare in shock.

"Don't you dare call my dad worthless!" Irma spat pushing Will away from her. "I can't believe you would even say something like this, what the hell is wrong with you?"

"Stay the hell away from me." Will snapped turning from Irma and froze in shock, she saw Dean and her mother off to the side talking as the stood very close together. Before Will knew what was happening Dean was leaning in to kiss Susan and the woman didn't even struggle, in fact it looked like she welcomed it and deepened the kiss.

"Will, don't you dare turn your back on me." Irma growled grabbing Will's shoulder but let go and backed up as Will turned on her with a destroyed look on her face. Irma asked a little shaken and worried, "Will, what's wrong?"

"What's wrong, I'm losing what little bit I have left. Are you happy?" Will snarled before running off from Irma.

NOTES

Thanks everyone for your great reviews but they seem to be growing smaller with every chappie. Please review if you read this and like it or have any ideas for me as they help keep my spirits up by letting me know you like it instead of hate it. Read and Review, please and thank you.

Riot: Thankies, I try my best to update as quickly as possible. Vathek I'm not sure what to do with but I didn't like the Vathek from the cartoon that much. He'll appear sometime in the next few chapters. I have an idea for him but I'm not a hundred percent sure if its what I'll end up doing yet or not. I prefer the relationship in the comics between t Caleb and Corny and hope it turns out well in this story. Hope you'll like where this story will go.


	8. Wolf Among the Sheep part 2

Will wasn't the only new occupant to be starting school soon, a bald teenage boy with piercing blue eyes stood watching the fleeing redhead and sneered as he saw three other girls go after her. The two blonds had stayed behind apparently to go talk to an older woman, perhaps a teacher of the foul establishment. He pulled his black overcoat tighter around his pale bulky frame as he moved to see if he could overhear what was going on.

"Missus Vandom, Will just ran off." The golden blonde said hysterically. Apparently the older woman wasn't a teacher but the redhead's mother or maybe older sister but that couldn't be as there was supposed to only be the mother and daughter.

"What happened?" Missus Vandom asked with worry lacing her voice as she stared at the two blondes.

"She freaked out when Irma confronted her about her dad being a cop." The silvery blonde asked, her looks seemed familiar to himself for some reason which he filed away for future reference.

"Irma's dad is a cop?" Missus Vandom asked in shock

"Well yeah." Cornelia said as if she was answering a stupid question, "Sorry, keep forgetting you guys are new here. Irma's dad is captain of the force here."

"I have to go find her, Dean." Missus Vandom said.

"I'll go with you." The man with Missus Vandom said, apparently he was called Dean.

"No, I need to talk to her alone. She's had some very bad experiences with cops and refuses to trust them." Missus Vandom sighed rubbing the bridge of her nose.

"What happened?" The silvery blonde asked worried.

"I'm sorry dear but it isn't my place to say." Missus Vandom said grabbing her purse, "Thank you girls for telling me what happened."

The boy watched stoically as the elder woman rushed from the courtyard.

"And we have the winner of the costume contest." The old woman known as Knickerbocker called from the stage as the noise finally died from the idiot prancing around on the stage playing those infernal instruments. The woman read off a card and pointed toward the boy. "The young man dressed up as a Sith Lord."

"What?" The boy asked in confusion as everyone surrounded him exploding in applause and cheers, "As with every Halloween the winner gets to light the Great Pumpkin!"

Again the applause exploded as the crowd pushed him toward the strange looking pumpkin that had apparently been mutilated, cut up with some kind of weird face carved into it. The old woman gave him a lit torch which he held looking from it to the old woman to the pumpkin.

"Go ahead, light it." The woman smiled motioning for the pumpkin. He quickly realized that he was expected to light it and shrugged, tossing the torch into the mouth of the pumpkin. Was there supposed to be a sizzling noise though? Moments later the pumpkin exploded as projectiles shot off in all directions, each exploding with loud bangs throwing off multi colored sparks. One headed right toward him exploding on contact singing his clothes leaving him covered in suit, his face black from it. Opening his mouth a little bit of smoke escaped as he shock his head in confusion at what just happened.

"Sometimes I really hate my life." The boy coughed before falling back, passing out from the shock of it.

WITCH

Irma ran with Hay Lin and Taranee following the retreating redhead away from the party as she blindly ran down street after street almost losing the group of girls until entering a run down neighborhood and finally into an apartment complex that Irma knew had been close to being condemned on more than one occasion with the owner doing the least amount possible in repairs to keep it open every time it happened. Irma watched in shock as Will stopped in front of one and dug a key out from inside her hat using it to push inside and slamming the door shut behind her.

The three girls quietly made their way to the door moments later, each lost in their own thoughts. Irma tentatively reached out and tried the door a little surprised that it wasn't even locked. Pushing it open they could hear muffled sobs coming from the back of the desolate apartment that didn't even have any personal touches to it much less anything else.

"I knew they were a little bad off but I never thought it was this bad." Taranee whispered while looking around. The light in living room there wasn't very bright but gave off enough light for them to see. As they walked through the hallway the could see there were two doors, both open and as the passed the first one they noticed it was just a bathroom. The second one however was a single bedroom with an alarm clock on the floor next to a large mattress with Will laying face down with her face buried in a pillow sobbing.

"Will." Hay Lin said softly causing the redhead to freeze. "Sweetie, are you okay?"

"What are you doing here?" Will asked, her voice oddly even as she slowly turned over and sat up to glare angrily at the three girls. "How did you get in?"

"The door was unlocked, Will." Taranee said quietly, "We were worried about you."

"Will, we're your friends." Irma said but her voice caused the redhead's expression to darken considerably.

"Bullshit!" Will shrieked throwing a pillow at them angrily. "How dare you barge in here? Get the hell out of here! GET OUT! GET OUT! GET OUT!"

"Will, we're only trying to help!" Hay Lin cried.

"Get out of my home! I'll bring your damned dress by tomorrow!" Will snapped.

"But Will." Hay Lin tried to say but Will started angrily stripping causing Irma to look on in shock.

"Fine, take it!" Will snapped throwing the costume Hay Lin made at the smaller girl and stood there angrily in her bra and panties shaking though they couldn't tell if it was from anger, the strain from trying not to cry or from cold as they all noticed it was a little chilly in there.

"Girls, please go ahead home." Susan said walking in behind the girls, "Let me talk to her, it'll be okay."

"Are you sure?" Hay Lin asked while looking up at the elder woman with tears streaming down her face.

"As if you give a damn mother!" Will sobbed storming past them and out into the hall and into the bathroom, slamming the door shut.

"It'll be okay." Susan sighed as she hugged Hay Lin for a few moments. Hay Lin carefully gave the dress back to Susan, it was more than just a costume, with a few alterations it could be a normal dress. Hay Lin wanted to give it to Will as she was sure it would look stunning on her friend and she was right. She wanted her friend to have it and refused to take it back.

"Please make sure she gets this." Hay Lin said, her voice cracking.

"Thank you honey." Susan said, "Irma, please understand that Will doesn't really have anything against your father, she's just had some bad experiences with cops and its hard for her to trust because of it."

"What happened?" Irma asked softly realizing it must have been bad if it was causing Will so much pain.

"I'm sorry Irma, I can't tell you." Susan sighed, "If Will wants to then its okay but its not my place to say."

"I guess I understand." Irma sighed looking to see a very shaken look on Taranee's face.

"Will she really be okay?" Taranee asked with a barely audible voice.

"She'll be okay once she calms down, sweetie." Susan sighed, "Please don't hold what happened against her, she needs friends like you that really care."

"How do you know we really care?" Irma asked unable to keep from asking it though she knew she did care, more so than she probably had a right to.

"Because you all would have ran off by now if you didn't." Susan said with a sad smile, "Please go ahead and go back to the party or home though girls, I really need to talk to my daughter."

"Okay, goodnight Missus Vandom." Hay Lin sighed.

"Please tell Will we love her and are here for her." Irma said as she followed Hay Lin down the hall.

"Missus Vandom, if Will needs someone to talk to we are all here for here but if she needs someone more…Maybe a counselor…My mom is a judge, I'm sure she can help get her one." Taranee said.

"Thanks Taranee, I'll let you know." Susan said hugging the mocha skinned girl before she too followed her friends out leaving Susan to deal with her daughter.

"Will, honey, please open up and talk to me." Susan said as she knocked on the bathroom door. She knew Will would talk to her, they talked about everything but what the redhead said to her a few minutes ago really hurt.

"Go to hell!" Susan screamed, her voice choking from her crying.

Susan sighed, for once happy about one of the things that was broken in the apartment. Susan opened the door to find Will sitting on the toilet with the seat down, hugging herself and bent forward crying as if she had lost everything. Susan had never seen Will in this condition, not even after Tony had attacked the last time.

"Sweetie." Susan said softly moving over to the trembling redhead.

"Please don't abandon me." Will sobbed. Almost unable to understand what the redhead was saying.

"Will!" Susan gasped as she dropped to her knees and wrapped her arms around the redhead, "Honey, I'd never leave you. You are my world."

"I saw you kissing him! You're going to abandon me like dad did when he got with what's her name. Y-Your going to s-start hitting m-me."

"Sweetie, I'd never hurt you. I love you so much." Susan cried rubbing Will's bare back. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you I liked Dean but just because I do doesn't mean I'd ever abandon you or hurt you."

"I don't want to be alone." Will cried as she clung desperately to Susan.

"Honey, your dad didn't become like he did because he cheated." Susan said sadly, "He did because he started taking drugs. I tried my best honey to get him to stop and that's when he started beating me. When he got so bad that's when he hit you and I found out that the man I married was gone and I wasn't keeping you there to be hurt to. Will, your dad loved us but the drugs took that man away, not another woman and it wasn't something you or I did."

"He was on drugs?" Will asked after a few minutes, finally getting control of herself.

"Yes honey." Susan sighed sadly. "Sweetie, why don't you go get some clothes on or at least a robe and come to the kitchen, I'll have some warm tea made I got today."

"How about cups?" Will asked.

"The landlord's wife gave me some kitchen stuff. And some stuff to clean the apartment." Susan explained, taking some tissue from the roll and dabbing Will's tears away. "I spent most of the morning cleaning."

"I can't believe I never noticed it." Will sighed.

"Its okay honey, go get changed and I'll have you some nice tea ready when you come in.

It didn't take Will too long get a robe on and into the kitchen where Susan was taking two blue mugs from an older microwave, one of the ones with a dial instead of buttons on it. Susan sat at the table beckoning Will to take the other seat which she did accepting the warm tea her mother offered.

"Feeling better honey?" Susan asked earning a small nod from Will.

"Mom," Will said nervously, "If you really like Dean…I don't want you to stop seeing him if he makes you happy. After everything that's happened you deserve some happiness."

"You do to, Will." Susan said reaching over and hugging Will with one arm as the two chairs were side by side since Susan moved them when she came in to make the tea. "Will, not all cops are bad, I know the ones back in Fadden Hills were crooked but Irma's father isn't like that. And Irma, she really cares for you, I can see it. All three of those girls care for you, they were so worried about you."

"Mom…I can't trust him, I can't." Will whispered shaking her head.

"Will, don't throw a friendship like the ones you have here." Susan pleaded.

"I…I need to think about this mom." Will whispered, getting up from the table.

"Why don't you go la down honey and get some rest?" Susan said as Will nodded and slowly made her way from the room as Susan rubbed her eyes trying to stop the tears forming over the pain her daughter was in and she knew no amount of words would truly fix it. It would take time for Will to recover from her wounds.

NOTES

Want to thank everyone for your wonderful reviews so thankies!

xfilesoc: Thankies, hope will continue to enjoy.


	9. Wolf Among the Sheep part 3

Saturday morning was a quiet affair for the Vandom women as they ate a small breakfast, the elder barely eating as she watched the younger sadly as the red head played with the bit of scrambled egg on her plate. Susan could easily tell that the previous night was weighing heavily on Will and in truth there wasn't any way anyone could blame Will for reacting in the way she did but the girls didn't know the true reasons behind it if Susan was correct and by the girls' reactions Will never told them anything.

"Mom, I might be home a little late tonight." Will finally said breaking the deafening silence. "I…A boy from school asked me out and I agreed to go."

"That's wonderful, honey." Susan said smiling at her daughter happy that she may have met someone. Looking closer though the older woman noticed the contemplative look on Will's face and it wasn't a good one either. "Will, what's wrong?"

"I don't know, mom. Truthfully, I feel bad about how I snapped at the girls last night but I don't know what to do about it." Will sighed, "I especially can't face Irma though, I…I don't trust her."

"Will," Susan sighed outing her fork down. "Irma is a good girl and her dad is a good cop, not all cops are bad."

"Sure, just the cops who breathe are the bad ones." Will quipped shoving the last of her egg in her mouth and washed it down with the last of the water in her glass. "Mom, they let him go time after time, especially the last time when they saw him trying to break my door down after he beat the hell out of me."

"Will, this isn't Fadden Hills, your father doesn't have friends here so can't pull strings or control anyone here." Susan sighed, before trying to change the subject. "How about you tell me about this boy."

"I don't know mom, he's really nice." Will said as she got up and washed her plate and cup before putting them in the strainer. "Well, I guess I can't even say that, I barely know him. He tried to help me though last night and asked if we could hang out tonight."

"Just be careful honey." Susan said as she got up and washed her own dishes.

"I will mom, I think I'm going to go for a walk though and think about things. I don't know if I'll be back before I meet up with Matt." Will said.

"Is that his name?" Susan asked smiling slightly, "No last name?"

"It's Matt Olsen." Will sighed in false exasperation though actually glad that her mother cared enough to grill her like this even if it was annoying in a way. "I don't know what time I'll be home."

"Hold on a minute first." Susan said walking to the bedroom and coming back a couple minutes later and handing Will something. Looking at what it was the redhead tried to give it back though the elder woman refused it. "If you are going to be out all day get you something to eat and don't come back saying you got one of these cheap bags of chips. Get you a sandwich or something at least."

"Okay." Will sighed knowing that arguing over it was useless. She needed to find out where the pet shop was because truthfully she didn't know but how hard could it be?

WITCH

Irma was lying on her back on Hay Lin's bed, her head draping off the side as she looked at Cornelia and Taranee sitting side by side on the window bench while Hay Lin sat at the low table doodling something in one of the Asian girl's many sketch books. Caleb had been 'recruited' by Yan Lin to help in the restaurant in exchange for room and board in the basement while Blunk had completely vanished since their return from the other world.

"Surely you are exaggerating everything." Cornelia said for what seemed the hundredth time.

Irma was still hurting inside over the way Will treated her lat night and most of it seemed like it was because of her dad being a cop. There had to be a reason behind it and Irma didn't get much sleep the night before trying to figure it out. Well, actually she spent the first part of the night crying into her pillow trying to convince herself that things really weren't as bad as it seemed. That Will didn't completely hate her for this.

"My parents have a storage space with all of Anna's old furniture in it from when she moved in with my dad last year, maybe she'll let us have it for Will and her mom." Irma said.

"My parents just bought a new computer but the old one is only six months old." Cornelia said, shaking her head in disgust. Sure, it was good to keep ahead of fashions but buying a new three thousand dollar computer just because of some new processor was beyond stupid in her mind. "I bet I could get the old one for Will, she'll need something for homework."

"I might be able to get a television." Taranee said while wiping off her glasses before putting them back on, "Maybe even a DVD player as well."

"I can provide a decent wardrobe for Will and her mom both." Hay Lin smiled, "I have a lots already made for my mom but they were a little big on her but I bet they'll fit Will's mom perfect and I already started making Will some other clothes."

"I hope it isn't anything too outlandish." Cornelia said though her smile was playful which was what kept the words from hurting Hay Lin. The Asian girl knew Cornelia thought some of Hay Lin's designs were a little over the top but the blonde also loved most of her designs more than some of the most expensive stuff she had bought.

"It's not, most of it is normal." Hay Lin said smiling.

"Let's split up and see if we can get everything together by tonight." Cornelia said.

WITCH

Irma was walking home as she kept trying to figure out what Will's problem was while hoping that doing this might help a little. This would be a great welcome and housewarming gift and hopefully show that redhead that they did care about her because the Vandom girl sure seemed to have problems believing that they were her friends.

The only thing Irma had been able to figure out was the reason behind Will's anger toward cops. Will's dad wasn't around and by the way the girl treated cops Irma was sure that a cop had ended up killing red's father, either on accident or over something legitimate it didn't change the believed fact that it must have been the reason behind Wills hostility. It helped explain why they didn't seem to have much money.

"Anna, I'm home." Irma called as walked into the house. The woman walked out from the kitchen to meet Irma and if one didn't know better they would believe that the woman really was Irma's mother instead of step mother.

"Hi honey, I thought you were going to be out with your friends all day." Anna said as she came in from the kitchen followed by Irma's father.

"Is something wrong, honey?" Tom asked with a worried look on his face.

"In a way, you know my new friend?" Irma asked. Anna nodded but her father had a curious look on his face. Irma hated to admit it but it seemed Anna knew more about Irma's personal life lately than her dad but she understood it. The police department was a little understaffed right now forcing him and a few of the more dedicated cops to pull longer shifts which was thankfully only temporary until the new recruits finished the academy.

"Did something happen to her?" Anna asked.

"You know how they just moved into town? Well, they don't have any money and even less furniture. They're living in one of those crap apartments they keep trying to condemn." Irma sighed.

"What do you want us to do?" Anna asked while sounding really concerned which surprised Irma. While the two didn't hate each other they did constantly fight and a part of her was sure if anyone would want to help it would have been her father before this woman. Maybe Irma underestimated the woman, after all she was one of the few people who knew her true nature and still didn't shun her.

"What are you planning to do with the stuff in storage?" Irma asked now a little nervous, silently praying that they would agree.

"Honey, that stuff belongs to Anna." Tom started causing Irma's stomach to drop.

"Its okay dear, this is a good cause." Anna smiled, "You can have whatever you want out of storage, I'll get you the key and you can go look through it."

"Are you sure dear?" Tom asked.

"Of course I'm sure, and I'm sure you and your friend can go get a truck and help take it over to Irma's friend." Anna smiled sweetly while giving Tom 'The Look' which said plainly to do as she said or else. Anna left the room and came back bringing a key, "Here, you can go ahead and go sort through some of it but don't lift anything too heavy. Only things I want is the stuff marked Anna's Private Stuff."

"Thanks Anna." Irma said happily hugging the older woman who after a few seconds of shock hugged the girl back happily.

WITCH

"Cornelia, there is no way we are giving this girl that computer." Harold sneered in disgust.

"But dad!" Cornelia cried out in shock, she had never thought her parents could be this cruel.

"Honey, this is final." Elizabeth said shaking her head while going to the phone.

"Then I'll give her my Vaio!" Cornelia snapped, her father looking taken aback.

"Yes Arnold, I want another of your custom four core AMD systems with the NZXT Nemesis, and an SLI array of Nvidia 8800 cards and Vista." Elizabeth explained into the phone, "And I want another Vaio and a color printer on a wireless network so both computers can print from it. Yes, I want it delivered within two hours as well as six months cable, digital phone and Road Runner. Charge everything to my account and deliver it…Hold on a sec, I need to ask my daughter the address."

"Y-You're serious?" Cornelia asked with her mouth hanging open. Finally she rattled off the address while Cornelia ignored the upraised eyebrow of her mother at hearing the address.

"Good, add two Razors with your best six month plans and bill that to me also." Elizabeth said after reciting the address, "Yes, it's a house warming gift for Susan Vandom so add a nice card and some flowers also."

WITCH

"Dad, you haven't really used really use the TV and DVD player in the den before we moved here do you think you are going to use it now?" Taranee asked as she found her father out back fixing the damaged planks in the privacy fence.

"Honey, you already have a TV so why would you need another one?" Lionel asked confused.

"It's for my new friend that just moved into town to." Taranee said shifting her weight nervously while avoiding direct eye contact with her father. "They don't really have much and if you want I'll tell them its just a loaner."

"No honey," Lionel sighed after a few minutes, giving a playful smile. "We can tell your mother it blew up and can get that plasma flat screen I've been wanting."

"Really?" Taranee asked happily.

"Sure honey, want me to help move it?" Lionel asked making Taranee sigh, she never thought of how they would all transport everything. "Let me call Irma and ask her."

WITCH

"I'm very proud of you, granddaughter." Yan Lin smiled as the older woman helped box up the tenth and final large box of clothing that Hay Lin had said she was giving to Will.

"Thanks grandmother but I would have done this for anyone." Hay Lin said happily while rubbing her forehead. It was hard work but worth it carefully folding and packing everything except for the few things they had in garment bags since they were the most delicate.

"That's what I'm proud of, granddaughter." Yan Lin smiled, "I know how you make stuff the wrong size and stuff just so you can donate it."

"I d-don't do that." Hay Lin said turning red. She didn't know anyone would catch her. If her mother knew the woman would be upset because she would probably see it was wasting money. It wasn't because Joan Lin was a bad woman though, it was because they were once in the same shoes as Susan and Will and it made the woman look out for her family first and foremost and basically screw the rest of the world. The woman still did a lot of good things but when it came down to money she was subconsciously selfish.

"It's our little secret." The older woman said before the two shared a smile.

WITCH

Will couldn't believe how lucky she was, there was only one pet shop in town which made it easy to find. The bad part was when she got there the doors were locked with a sign apologizing for the incontinence but they were going to be closed for the day. Did Matt just end u standing her up or was there just a misunderstanding? She was a little angry but she couldn't really bring herself to stay that way as it was still several hours before she was supposed to meet with Matt so decided to walk through the nearby park.

"Don't let it get away!" A familiar voice cried angrily causing Will to look up at Uriah and two large boys chasing after a small dormouse while throwing rocks and sticks at it.

"Cut that out1' Will snapped stepping in front of the poor animal's path and scooped it up into her arms and held it close.

"Hand it over red." Uriah sneered as the three boys surrounded her causing her to worry a little. She was sure she could take Uriah out if it came to it but not the larger boys..

"Leave her alone!" A welcoming voice cried causing the four to look over to an angry Matt running toward them.

"This isn't worth my time." Uriah said turning to stalk off with his cronies following just moments later.

"You okay Will?" Matt said breathing heavily as he stopped next to Will with a goofy smile on his face. He was cute but as Will studied him she wasn't sure what she felt towards him. He seemed pretty cool but she couldn't really say she was attracted to him. She knew he was a major hottie and most any girl would love to be with him but Will just couldn't bring herself to admit having an attraction to him. In fact, she knew that she wasn't.

"I'm okay." Will said before crying out and dropping the small animal whose fur was standing on end while hissing at the two. The little creature had bit her.

"Let me see." Matt said taking her hand and inspecting her finger where it was a little red but it wasn't bleeding as the bite wasn't hard enough to break the skin. "It'll be okay, you aren't bleeding or anything. Hold on a second."

"O-Okay." Will said a little confused as Matt took his jacket off and walked over to the dormouse wrapping it up in it.

"He'll be okay when he calms down and it'd be best if he had a nice home so the creeps don't come back after him." Mat said giving the small creature to Will who reluctantly took the bundle.

"Matt, we just moved here, I can't really afford a pet right now." Will sighed knowing it was the truth.

"That's why I'm going to give you some stuff for him." Matt said leading Will away from the park towards the pet shop, "I'll get you some food for a day or two and a couple dishes. You can come by tomorrow or Monday after school and I'll have all the stuff you need for him ready."

"I can't pay for all that." Will said in shock.

"Relax, it's a gift." Matt said smiling.

"Matt…Stop." Will sighed, stopping where she was looking sadly up at the boy. "I…I don't want to give you the wrong idea or anything."

"You don't like me?" Matt asked sadly though smiling a little.

"It's not that, I think you're really nice and I'd love t be friends but…I've been thinking about it all day and…Now I'm sure of it, I'm not really attracted to you but I'd love to be friends." Will said hopefully.

"I'd like that." Matt said smiling a little more, "Come on, let's go get my new friend that food from the shop."

WITCH

"Thanks daddy." Irma said hugging her dad as his friend got back in the truck. It had taken all after noon after they stopped to pick up Taranee then Hay Lin's stuff though the girls had to ride with Anna who went along to help coordinate everything along with a shocked Susan. At first the woman had said that all this wasn't necessary that everything would be okay in a few weeks but Anna wouldn't hear any of it. Susan reluctantly accepted everything though she was really grateful. The two woman had gotten talking more and quickly became friends though after the large cake with frogs that said welcome and ice cream had arrived that Anna had asked a friend to get and drop off, she had to leave. Unfortunately it was the only cake available which depressed the woman a little until Susan told her about Will's obsession with the green creatures.

It was about half way into unloading everything when the Hale's offerings arrived to a very shocked Susan at the insane amount of money spent on everything. She couldn't help crying a little at the generosity and genuine show of people wanting to help and become friends not only from the older people but the girl as well.

There was now a vanity and dresser in the bedroom as well as a night stand on each side of the bed and stereo one and the alarm clock on the other. The bed now had a simple bed frame with new box springs and mattress which was better than the older mattress as it was a lot more comfortable. Hay Lin had dragged Taranee off and bought some stuffed frogs to spread through out the room as well. The bed had at least three new sets of linen as well as nice curtains for the windows in all the rooms.

Tom had fixed the cracked windows as well as the mirror in the bathroom as well as put a wardrobe in the bedroom for Will as Susan had her new clothes in the closet. The living room had a new leather couch and two recliners around a nice coffee table and a small TV stand with a 32 inch television and DVD player with a couple Disney movies, a couple romantic comedies and a handful of horror movies.

There was an L-shaped computer desk in the living room's corner with a printer on a printer stand next to it and the internet had wireless LAN that provided internet access to both the desktop and notebook.

There was a whole new table set as well as a brand new glasses, plates, silverware, pots and pans that Anna stopped to buy on the way over. There was also a new microwave to replace the one that had already died as well as a coffee maker. The apartment was now fully furnished and Susan couldn't believe it.

Susan was in the kitchen now setting the table for the four girls, Will and herself. The new table was long enough and had two chairs on either side and a chair on each end which gave them all plenty of room. The apartment door closed which drew Susan out in surprise to see her daughter home much sooner than anticipated. The red haired girl walked into the living room looking at everything in utter shock before looking up at Susan.

"Mom, I thought it would be awhile before you finished your classes?" Will said in shock putting down a bag on the couch with a bundle that was quickly revealed to be some kind of small animal.

"It will, honey. This is from your friends and their families. It's a housewarming gift." Susan said growing worried with the angry look in the red haired girl's eyes. She was afraid that Will would be a little upset but not this bad.

"I knew this was going to happen!" Will screamed, "I knew it! I wish I never met them!"

"Will, that wasn't nice, they did so much trying to show how much they cared." Susan said shocked from her daughters outburst. She didn't want the girls to hear this, it wasn't fair to them after everything they did. Susan wasn't sure why Will was reacting this violently. The look in the redhead's eyes was starting to break Susan's heart though as her eyes was filled with depression "Will, what's really wrong? Why is this bothering you so much? Truthfully, I expected you to be a little upset but..."

"Mom, they did this out of pity! It's…It's happening again." Will sobbed out while hugging herself, "It's the same thing all over again! They're pitying me, they're going to be nice to me until I actually believe they're my friends then…Then…I don't want to go through that again! Mom…I don't want to lose people I care about again."

"Oh honey." Susan sighed pulling Will into an embrace, "You really love them, don't you? That's what's bothering you, isn't it?"

"Yes!" Will sobbed, "I've never felt like I belonged like I do here with them but I'm scared."

"Will, you don't have to be scared." Hay Lin said softly hugging Will from behind, joined by Taranee and Irma on either side and shortly followed by Cornelia after the blonde shrugged.

"You aren't getting rid of us, red." Irma said.

"Yeah Will, we all care about you." Taranee said causing Will to smile a little.

"Will, we love you." Cornelia said.

"Th-Thanks guys." Will sniffed, she could feel the heart under her top pulsating. She could feel their words, their feelings flowing through the heart and she knew they were all telling the truth.

"Come on, lets have some cake and ice cream." Susan said smiling at her daughter. Moments later the five girls were at the table, Will and Irma sitting next to each other on one side, Taranee sitting at one of the ends, and Cornelia and Hay Lin on the other side. Susan had to hide a smile as she realized that their initials spelled 'Witch.'

The girls were talking happily now but Will was still acting nervous next to Irma and the sad look on the brunette's face. Susan hoped that Will could get over her fears of police and become friends with both Irma and Tom, they were both very good people.

"So Will, what happened with your date?" Susan asked causing Will to blush as the girls started gushing over Will teasing her about already having a boyfriend. All of them except Irma which made Susan curious.

"I don't have a boyfriend, Matt and I decided to just be friends. I just don't feel anything towards him." Will sighed but it seemed Irma perked up some at this which started to bother Susan a little as she started putting two and two together. Was Irma trying to be friends with Susan's daughter or was the girl hoping for more? If it was more Susan wasn't sure what she felt about it, she didn't believe Will was that way but she didn't know what to think if something like that happened. It scared her to even think about it.

WITCH

A large bald boy looked up at the new book store which just opened and shook his head in disgust before entering. Out of all the different places that could have been chosen his friend picked a damned book store. Of course Cedric had always been a bit of a geek though being obsessed with knowledge so much Vathek should have known better than to think it would be anything else.

"Any news yet?" The long haired blonde man asked as he adjusted his glasses when the large boy entered.

"Not yet, it isn't going to be easy finding the princess." Vathek sighed, "And why the hell did you chose a book store?"

"What better way to learn about Earth's culture and ways?" Cedric smirked causing the boy to groan in disgust. Vathek hated books or reading, he had always been the muscle man though he admitted Cedric was far stronger than him. Still, they were their Prince's best operatives which was why they were chosen for this assignment. If anyone could find their Prince's sister they would.

NOTES

Wow, over 9 whole pages before the Notes, the most I think I've ever written for a chapter but for some reason it still seems a little rushed even after going back through and adding stuff three times. Hope you all enjoyed it still, please let me know what you thought about it.

Funky Dude: Thankies but I'm sorry to say as of this chappie Matt is out of the running for sure. I do try my best to update as quickly as possible because I always worry if I let it go too long I'll lose my inspiration for a story which I don't want to happen to this story as I think it's the best and most original story that I've ever written. Will is definitely on the road to recovery at the end of this chapter.

Riot: LOL, several people had already guessed it and here I was hoping it would have been a little harder. Vathek is going to play a much different role in this story than either in the cartoon or comics but I hope everyone will love the changes. Will accepted Collins somewhat as she wants her mother to be happy but I'm not sure if she completely accepted him yet as it'll be a little hard for her to trust him. The girls will probably be supportive but I doubt they will like it a whole lot with one of their teachers dating their friend's mom. Hope you liked this chappie, thankies.


	10. Wolf Among the Sheep part 4

Irma walked slowly towards Will's apartment deep in thought about two different women in her life. First there was Anna, the woman she knew would be marrying her father soon and though she wasn't sure what to think of the elder woman at the moment Irma knew that her opinion had drastically changed. For one, her father could do infinitely worse than the woman but Irma wasn't sure where the woman would fit into her life.

Chris, the little spore that he was, loved Anna and thought of the woman as a mother but before last night that was something Irma never even considered. When she got home her dad and Anna were in there room but Irma could hear their conversation as she got close to the door causing her to stop and listen as she heard Anna crying.

"Why does she hate me, Tom? I'm not trying to replace her mom but is it too much to want to be like a mother to her?" Anna cried.

"Honey, Irma doesn't hate you, she's just still trying to deal with her mother's death. It was hard on all of us, it still is sometimes and if it wasn't for you I don't know how I would be able to go on." Tom said in a gentle voice, Irma could see them in her mind, Anna crying into her dad's shoulder.

"I want to be a part of this family but I can't if I'm going to end up destroying it." Anna sobbed, "I love you Tom, I love Chris and Irma, I love all of you way too much to mess up what you have."

"You won't honey." Tom said though Irma could hear his voice crack a little. She couldn't take any more and had retreated to her room to think about it. Would it be so bad to accept Anna, the woman had calmly and openly accepted Irma when she found out her darkest secret that not even her father knew about. Anna had even gave so much just to help Will's family and by the look Anna gave her a few times she was sure the woman knew Irma's feelings toward Will.

Will, the other woman in Irma's life was somewhat an enigma but Irma was sure she was piecing together some of the redhead' past. Apparently a cop had something to do with Will's father being killed which explained the hostility towards Irma's father and in extension the nervousness around Irma herself. The fear to get close to Irma and the other girls was apparently because after Will's dad died people pitied the redhead and was nice to her for awhile making the girl believe that they were her friends. They must have got tired of the pity game and more or less stabbed the girl in the back.

Irma knew it was going to take some work to earn the redhead's trust on all their parts but it was going to be harder for Irma especially because of who her father was. It wasn't really fair towards Irma but she wasn't going to just give up, Irma Lair never gave up.

"Hey muffin." Martin's nasally voice said from behind Irma startling the girl, she so didn't want to deal with the boy right then. True she no longer hated the boy, she got over that a few years earlier and realized he could be a good friend. The key words was 'could be' as the boy refused to get it to his thick skull that she wasn't attracted to him in the least and stopped hitting on her. Heck, she no longer even crushed on Andrew Hornby anymore as her tastes had shifted over the last year.

"Martin, I'm not in the mood this morning." Irma growled as she looked over the boys shoulder and saw a bald boy with beady eyes watching the two from not far away.

'Go away, go away, go AWAY!' Irma screamed in her mind over and over toward Martin and was shocked to see his expression blank for a minute before he started to turn away.

"I'm sorry sugar bear but I have to go away." Martin said emotionlessly before returning to normal as he walked away. Looking up Irma saw that the bald boy was gone which relieved Irma as he gave her the creeps even worse than Uriah and his creeps.

"I have you now." A gravely voice snarled into Irma's ear as an arm wrapped around her waist and another covering her mouth as whoever it was dragged her into an alley. She couldn't see who it was as she struggled to break his hold but it was too strong and became painful the more she fought. The hand holding her mouth grabbed her by the back of the neck and slammed her against the wall knocking the breath out of her. She felt him slip some kind of collar around her neck before yanking her wrists behind her back and tied her arms together.

"Let me go!" Irma screamed before a cloth was shoved in her mouth and a piece of tape over it gagging her. He took another strip of cloth and used it as a blindfold cutting off her vision making the world go dark to her.

"If you are good guardian no one will have to get hurt, I give you my word of honor on that." The voice growled, "I don't want to hurt you, all I want is my princess and the heart, if I get those then no one will have to suffer."

Irma struggled against her bonds before being picked up in a fireman's carry as she tried to call upon her powers but they wouldn't work. Even in her normal state she still had some control over water as well as her other abilities but they just refused to answer her plea for help.

"Try all you want guardian, that collar blocks all forms of magic. If you try putting to much power in it,. it will backlash on you." The voice snarled, "That is your only warning girl."

WITCH

"I should have known she wouldn't have shown." Will grumbled two hours after Irma was supposed to show up. Will had finally given up on waiting for the girl and decided to get some fresh air and maybe stop off at the Silver Dragon for lunch since her mother was out with, ick, Mister Dean Collins. It probably wouldn't be so bad but Will already knew that she would be having him for her history teacher.

Opening the door to step outside Will saw a piece of paper sitting on the ground with the end slid just barely under the door. Maybe it was a letter from Irma but if it was then that meant the girl had been there so why didn't she knock? Will hadn't went anywhere and would have heard her if she did.

Sighing Will bent down to pick up the paper but her head started pounding and her world seemed to shift violently for a few moments causing her to just drop to the ground sitting there. Breathing heavily she clutched her head until the throbbing pain stopped minutes later and the world finally stopped spinning erratically. Shaking her head in confusion she stretched her hand out and picked up the note and looked at it gasping in shock.

_Keeper of the Heart,_

_I have the Water Guardian at my mercy._

_If you want her back safely come alone and bring the heart_

_As well as any information you have on the Princess._

_I'll be waiting at Shell Beach._

"Irma!" Will gasped, crumbling up the paper and climbing shakily to her feet. She had to help the girl, she had come to rescue her from that damned pit and Will was going to return the favor but how? She wasn't even sure where Shell Beach was but she couldn't ask the other girls because if they decided to follow it could put Irma in danger since Will was told to come alone.

"I don't have a choice." Will sighed setting off a little unsteadily in search of the beach

WITCH

Irma sighed into her gag as she tried to work her hands free again but it was useless as she lay on a cold hard floor of some kind. She had spend who knew how many hours crying as she realized she would probably never see her family and friends ever again. She would never see her annoying little brother or her overbearing yet wonderful father or Anna…Her mother ever again.

She would never see the girls ever again, fight with Corny or share a laugh with Hay Lin or listen to another of Taranee's lectures about how she should study more. She would never get to see the red haired girl which was starting to take up so much of her thoughts lately. She would never get the chance to tell her the truth, any of it.

Footsteps echoing through the floor caused Irma to stiffen a little in fright though she drove that out of her mind. If this thing was going to hurt or kill her she wouldn't give it any satisfaction of being afraid. No amount of determination stopped her stomach from grumbling as the smell of fast food wafted to her nostrils.

"Girl, I am going to untie your hands and remove your gag and blindfold. Do NOT try to escape and do NOT scream or they go right back on. Nod if you agree." The gravely voice said from earlier and continued after Irma nodded after deciding it was better than being completely bound like this, her arms were really starting to hurt. "Good girl, I must warn you I am not a human and look a little different but do not be afraid."

After a few moments Irma was sitting up, her legs still tied together to keep her from running and the collar was still in place but everything else was removed leaving her to rub her wrist trying to get her blood circulating again. She was shocked when a bag of McDonald's food was dropped on her lap and a cup of something sat down beside her. Looking up she saw that the thing wasn't kidding about not looking human. He was a bulky blue man with what she thought was shards of bone in his head and face. He wore a ratty black overcoat over a black turtleneck sweater and brown leather pants.

"You must be hungry." The thing said moving to a rock and sitting down on it looking at Irma curiously.

"Y-Yeah, thanks." Irma said confused, slowly opening the bag to find an order of fries and a Big Mac. She was a little cautious about even thinking about eating it.

"Relax girl, there is nothing wrong with it." The man said giving her a soft smile but it looked a little warped on his visage. "My name is Vathek."

"Well little boy blue, what do you want with me?" Irma asked, blushing a little as her stomach rumbled again.

"I'll make you a deal, you eat and I'll talk." Vathek said, smiling in amusement as Irma pulled a fry out and made a big production of eating it. "Kid, you have spunk, I like that."

"My name is Irma." Irma grumbled as she ate another fry.

"Well, Irma, I don't want to hurt you or any of your friends, all I want is the Heart of Candracar and my Princess. All of you can go back to your normal lives and I can go back to my home and none of us will ever have to see each other ever again." Vathek said as Irma opened the sandwich and take a couple bites.

"No offense tall, dark and gruesome but what makes you think I'll believe anything you say? You work for the Prince of Evil after all." Irma asked, "Do you honestly think I believe that you are going to just let me go?"

"I am a man of honor kid, and I swear to you that no harm will come to you as long as your friend shows up and surrenders the Heart to me." Vathek said.

"And what if she doesn't show?" Irma asked, gulping nervously.

"I…I don't know, kid." Vathek sighed rubbing his face, "I really don't like the idea of hurting a kid, much less a cute girl."

"Sorry buddy but you are so not my type." Irma said in a monotone voice glaring at the blue skinned man.

"You really amuse me, girl!" Vathek said giving a hearty laugh while slapping his knee, "Kid, I am already promised to someone on Meridian and you may be cute but she is beautiful. In a way, you remind me of her though. A strong, fierce spirit full of mirth and a silver tongue. In fact, given a few years and some pink dye you may even look like her."

"Wow, you have a girlfriend?" Irma asked in shock.

"Don't look so hocked kid, on Meredian I'm actually what you would call, I believe, a hottie." Vathek said smirking a little, "And no she isn't my girlfriend, she is my fiancée. As soon as I finish my mission and fulfilled my obligation to my Prince we plan to get married."

"Wow, congratulations." Irma said completely floored by this revelation. She had a picture in her mind of the people on Meridian, minus Caleb, being huge scary monsters who didn't give a damn about anything. Instead they were just as human as she was.

"Thanks kid…Look, no one knows of this." Vathek sighed, shaking his head. "I just wanted to get this over with but I won't do it if it means hurting an innocent child. If your friend doesn't show up by sundown I'll release you."

"You know, I think I believe you." Irma said after a few minutes of silence, "You really aren't such a bad guy."

"Thanks, to bad we had too be on opposite sides but I am honor bound to carry out this mission." Vathek sighed, "While I will let you go tonight when we meet again I will be forced to fight you as rivals but I hope for a more peaceful resolution."

"Irma!" Will's voice cried from outside.

"Your friend has come." Vathek said handing Irma a small crystal. "Take care kid, when I finish my business with your friend you are free to go."

"Please, please don't hurt her." Irma begged.

"Even if I end up having to do battle with her I will not cause her permanent harm." Vathek said smiling down at her, "You love this girl, don't you?"

"WHAT!" Irma cried out blushing brightly while shaking her head in denial.

"Kid, life is too short to throw away what could be very special just because you are afraid. Of admitting it." Vathek said, "Aria taught me that."

Irma couldn't bring herself to answer the strange man before he turned to leave the cave with an amused expression on his face. However he failed to notice another shadow coming from deeper in the cave which scared Irma. This man was also bluish, had long blonde hair and large rippling muscles and where Vathek had a kind, gentle look in his eyes this man had a cold, hard hatred in them.

"What do we have here?" The man snarled causing Irma to drop the crystal in shock. Almost faster than she could follow this man drew a sword from his waist and plunged it through the jewel shattering it into several pieces causing a bright flash of light. "We wouldn't want you removing your collar no would you, my new little pet?"

"Screw you!" Irma snapped before he grabbed her hair and yanked her to her feet, using his sword to cut the rope binding her feet.

"Not yet, my dear pet we have a traitor to take care of first." The man snarled.

WITCH

To say the least Will was shocked at seeing the bulky blue skinned man walking out of the cave with a stone like expression on his face. She knew immediately that this thing was from Meridian though she pretty much already guessed that.

"Did you bring the Heart?" The man asked, his voice calm yet rough.

"Where's Irma?" Will demanded giving the thing her harshest glare while trying to hide how scared she was.

"She is safe and you will get her back as soon as you give me the Heart and tell me where my Princess is." The thing growled.

"I don't know your who your Princess is but if you want the Heart here it is!" Will said pulling it out and thrusting it out in front of her.

"I don't think so." The man said lightning arced from his eyes striking the jewel and knocking it away from her. "I can't allow you to do that."

"Where's Irma?" Will demanded moving toward where the Heart was but the blue creature beat her to it.

"She is safe in the cave and is free to go, all I want is for you to give me this willingly." The thing said, "It won't do any good if you don't give it of your free will."

"WILL!" Irma screamed causing both the blue thing and Will to look up at the origin of the voice with a look of anger and hatred growing on both of their faces.

"Frost! How dare you stick your nose in my business?" The bulkier blue thing demanded sounding very upset as he put his hand behind his back stepping between Will and the one he just called Frost who was holding Irma's hands behind her back.

"Bring me the Heart, Vathek." Frost demanded angrily, "It doesn't matter if she gives it freely, if they can't change into Guardians then they can't interfere with our Lords plans."

"You dishonorable bastard." Vathek snarled as Will eyed the heart waiting to make sure the thing was distracted before trying to grab it but before she got the chance he flicked it at her before moving toward Frost as if he still had it. "Here is the damn Heart now let the girl go."

"Let her go?" Frost laughed, "I don't think so, I already destroyed the key so there is no way of removing the collar which makes her powerless. She will be a good little pet, I'm sure I'll have some great fun with her and maybe if I get tired I'll even share her."

"Here Frost." Vathek snarled reaching up his empty hand causing Frost's eyes to widen in shock before Vathek punched him hard in the jaw causing him to lose his hold on Irma and go flying back. "Take your friend and go, I have to teach this trash a lesson."

"Will." Irma cried throwing herself at the redhead.

"Come on, Irma, lets get out of here." Will said.

"We have to help Vathek." Irma said as Will said returning the other girl's embrace, supporting her weight.

"Irma, we have to get out of here before they decide to come after us." Will sighed as Irma reluctantly nodded as she looked over at the fighting and could tell that Vathek had the upper hand.

"Okay, let's go." Irma sighed as she let Will help her hurry away from the beach.

NOTES:

Hope this chappie turned out good, I kind of wrote it the last couple nights when I couldn't sleep so hope that didn't affect it too much.

I had a PM asking me why I didn't answer most of my reviews but I answer all of my reviews. I use the reply link and send a PM for signed reviews and answer unsigned ones here because I do want to answer them and since there isn't a reply link for Unsigned reviews I have to do it here so I hope that settles that question for anyone else who wonders about that.

kurisu7885: Thankies, I'm glad you like it even though you aren't a huge fan of W.i.t.c.h. I try to do my best at character development but sadly I'm no expert but thankies, I'm really trying to improve as I go. I really hate people like Tony Vandom and that is something I never understood how they always seem to get out of trouble. I'll try harder to catch any typos.

Riot: Glad you enjoyed it, I'm glad that the girls and their families helped Will and Susan out and it ended better than I was originally thinking about. Truthfully, I was debating having Will stay angry for a day or two but I liked what did happen much better. I don't remember in the cartoon it being mentioned that Anna was Irma's stepmother and not birth mother which I could be wrong but that is one of the things I pulled from the comics which in a way I like better (Though I don't have anything against the toon either, LOL). Ana isn't married yet to Irma's dad yet but will be marrying him soon in the future, maybe. I do want Matt to be an important part of Will's life but not as her boyfriend in this story which I'm glad so far most everybody seems okay with. Will will have the same hobbies as in the comics and will be joining the swim team when she starts school. LOL, don't worry about the size of the reviews or questions, I love both so no big. I'm glad it turned out okay, I'm really trying not to rush it but I'm not really very good with pacing. There will be more attacks from Meridian and there will be some Cornelia and Caleb in the upcoming chapters for fans of that pairing.


	11. Trapped Memories part 1

Vathek limped slowly from Prince Phobos's audience chamber relieved that Frost's little jealous plans never worked out. Of course Phobos was beyond infuriated and berated the two for working against each other when it was plain that they would have easily succeeded in gaining the Heart of Candracar if they just worked together. The only problem with that is there was no way Vathek would work with someone with as little honor as Frost. In fact if Phobos didn't save Aria's life Vathek wouldn't even be working with Phobos but that happened and now he was honor bound to fulfill his duty to his Prince.

What worried Vathek though was when his Prince had dismissed them but at the last moment told Frost to stay. He wasn't sure if Frost was in trouble with the Prince or if the two was plotting something but whatever it was it couldn't be good.

WITCH

Irma sighed as she stood before the mirror in her room Monday morning in just her socks, bra and panties staring at the deep black collar around her neck. It looked more like a choker than a collar as she fingered it, it's material was so different from anything she had ever felt before, it was so soft, almost like a silk or maybe velvet would describe it a little better. It was tougher than anything else she had ever felt before though as it refused to budge, it seemingly growing stronger with every attempt. It didn't have any clasp or any signs of where it closed at but the strangest part of it was the runes engraved in it that seemed to almost glow in an erie blue.

She couldn't wear that thing to school though and had attempted taking a pair of scissors to it but it had shocked her. The blasted thing actually zapped her with a bolt of electricity causing her to cry out in pain. Anna of course came rushing in to see what had happened and Irma had told her that she jus feel. Unfortunately, Anna had caught sight of the collar and of course had to gush over it which annoyed Irma. She couldn't snap at the woman though because she kept remembering what Anna had said when Irma overheard her dad and Anna talking.

Finally though Anna had left Irma to finish getting ready for school, Will's first day of school which excited Irma a little since she learned that Will had shared many classes with her except for a biology class which Will had taken instead of the Art class

Sighing Irma moved to her closet and started going through the many outfits within. She had finally found the perfect outfit though since it was pretty chilly out and it would hide the collar allowing her to keep a low profile. Sadly she didn't want to really keep a low profile, she wanted to track down that bastard Frost and pummel him fro not only suggesting the things he did but for destroying what Yan Lin had said was the key to removing the collar.

For now Irma's only choice was to just wait until Yan Lin could find someway to remove it. Irma hated having to wait though as she had no power while the collar was stuck around her neck. She was defenseless, helpless if any other Meridian creeps decided to attack and if the others needed the water guardian they were out of luck.

Still, the bright side as she thought earlier was Will. The redhead was going to her first day at Sheffield and Irma was kind of excited for the first time about school. It was going to be a good day despite the problems Irma was going through as she would be able to spend most of it with Will and that alone made getting out of bed and dragging herself to the stupid building whose name reminded her more of some kind of mental hospital which was were she was sure half the student body belonged.

Pulling down her ankle length denim skirt and aqua tanktop she pulled them on before pulling out a redish orange turtle neck sweater that she was starting to outgrow but it worked to her favor being a little tight clinging to her curves. Maybe Will would actually notice her today, really notice her.

"Wish me luck, Leafy." Irma said smiling a little at her pet turtle as she leaned down to look into the habitat. It was munching on the food she gave it when she first woke up making her smile a little more, not many people understood what she seen in the thing as a pet. Truthfully she didn't know either, it couldn't exactly play fetch or anything but she always found him really cute and since her father was allergic to fur this would probably be the only pet she would get for a long time.

Moving to sit on her bed next to where she had her shoes sitting she hurried and pulled them on before tying them tightly and grabbed her bookbag. She decided to skip breakfast this morning since she wasn't sure if she could keep anything down with how bad her stomach was fluttering.

"Wow, you look really pretty." Anna said giving Irma beaming smile.

"Thanks mom." Irma said hearing a small crashing noise as Anna dropped the plate she was holding causing the food on it to splatter all over the place. It took a few moments for Irma to realize what she had said as Anna kneeled down to pick up the dropped plate.

"Irma, what did you say?" Anna asked, her voice a little shaky as she looked up into Irma's eyes. The older woman's eyes were misting over which worried Irma at first until noticing the hope in those eyes and the small smile tugging at her lips.

"I said, thanks mom." Irma said waving it off as if she said it everyday though she knew she didn't. It didn't feel too bad saying it and if it made the woman so happy would it really be so bad? Irma really did like the woman and if it made her father happy being with the woman who was Irma to stand in the way?

"Irma!" Anna cried happily leaving the food and plate as she launched herself at Irma wrapping the girl in a strong hug. "Do you mean it?"

"I…I guess. I'm sorry that I've been such a bitch to you but if I have to have another mother I'd rather it be you. I…I really like you and I finally understand that you aren't trying to replace my real mom." Irma said returning the hug, "I…Welcome to the family, mom."

"I really have your blessing?" Anna asked pulling away, wiping the wetness from her eyes.

"On one condition." Irma said taking on a serious expression though she couldn't help letting a little bit of a smirk form on her lips as a worried expression came over the older woman's face.

"A-Anything." Anna said nervously.

"Make mea bride's maid at the wedding." Irma said as she grew a full blown smirk.

"How about maid of honor?" Anna asked hugging Irma again, kissing the top of the girl's head again.

"A normal bride's maid would be great, I'm sure you already have someone picked out as your maid of honor." Irma said though she really would have loved to just say yes.

"Of course I did, Irma." Anna said smirking herself, looking almost like an older version of Irma. It was just another reminder how much the woman looked like Irma. In fact Irma's birth mother never really looked like Irma at all. "I was thinking of this girl with a mischievous nature to her, always ready with a sarcastic reply but with a big heart. In fact, she's one of the most beautiful girls I've ever met and I am not being biased. I'm sure some redhead would be very lucky if the girl would just admit how she felt."

"Anna!" Irma sputtered blushing brightly as she tried to avoid the older woman's gaze.

"What, no more mom?" Anna asked in a playful tone.

"You just startled me." Irma said as Anna gently took a hold of Irma's chin and raised her head so their eyes met.

"Irma, I always did want you to be my maid of honor if could get your blessing." Anna said wit a small smile, "And I really think you should tell Will how you really feel for her instead of torturing yourself."

"Mom, she couldn't feel the same, and even if she did she deserves better." Irma sighed.

"Irma, listen to me, there is nothing wrong with you and I said it before and I'll say it again, Will would be lucky to have you." Anna said, "I'm very proud of you, Irma and so is your dad."

"I doubt he would be if he knew how I was." Irma sighed sadly.

"Your father will love you and be proud of you no mater what," Anna said kissing Irma's cheek.

"I-I have to get to school." Irma said hugging the woman, "I'll see you later mom."

WITCH

Will nervously waited outside for Irma to pick her up though she would have rather walked. It wasn't because Irma was picking her up though, no it was because Irma's dad was taking Chris, Will and Irma to school. She had promised her mother to at least to try to be civil to the man since he was Irma's father and one of the people who helped out the most with all of their new things. Susan had actually wanted Will to give the man a chance but if the redhead couldn't at least be nice to him.

The sight of the police car coming around the corner caused Will to groan, the least they could have done was come in a normal car. Clutching the backpack Anna had sent her Will started walking to the car as it pulled up next to Will.

"Hey Red!" Irma called from the back seat, its windows down. It didn't look like a normal cop car, there wasn't anything separating the back seat from the front and apparently the doors were openable from the inside as Irma leaned over and opened the door as Will climbed in.

"You!" Will snapped a she shut her door and for the first time got a good look at the man behind the wheel. There was a younger boy sitting shotgun next to him.

"Ah, so you're Irma's new friend." Tom asked holding a box of doughnuts toward Will with a friendly smile, raising an eyebrow in amusement. "Doughnut?"

"Y-Yeah, thanks." Will said shakily accepting a glazed doughnut from the box.

"Your very welcome, young lady." Tom said smiling as he set the box back down on the seat and pulled out.

"Will, its okay." Irma whispered scooting up against Will so the two girls could have a quiet conversation. "I think I figured out why you don't like cops."

"Y-You did?" Will asked, her heart starting to beat faster, thumping in her chest as it felt like her stomach was plummeting.

"Yeah, a cop was responsible for killing your dad. Will, my dad would never do that, he's a good man and a good cop." Irma whispered, "I understand if you don't like cops but please give my dad a chance."

Will looked up in relief t the other girl, happy that she didn't know the truth but Will couldn't lie to her so didn't say anything about it. She did notice her friend's blush which confused Will, why would the girl be blushing just because they were sitting close together.

"Are you girls okay?" Tom asked while looking at them through the mirror, a sad and worried look on his face as they stopped in front of the elementary school where Chris went to.

"Bye dad, bye Will, die Irma." Chris laughed before rushing out of the car after sticking his tongue out at Irma.

"Will, I'm sorry about your dad but I would never hurt anyone without good cause." Tom said.

"Sure, thanks Mister Lair." Will sighed moving to her door and leaning her head against it staring out the open window. She heard both Lairs sighed before the car started moving forward. She couldn't tell them that they were wrong, she was too scared too find out what they would think if she did. She just didn't want to deal with it so just retreated into herself which was something she was starting to get used to.

"Have a good day girls." Tom said breaking Will from her thoughts as she. Looking up she felt her heart drop at the crushed expression on the mans face. He really did seem to be trying to be nice but Will didn't think she could really trust him.

"You to, thanks for the lift Mister Lair." Will said giving the best smile she could muster.

"Thanks daddy." Irma said kissing his cheek before climbing out of the car. Will watched the car drive off before turning to Irma's nervous expression. "Will, he really is a good man."

"Irma…I want to believe it but from what I've seen cops are crooked and only care for themselves." Will sighed while running her fingers through her hair. "Irma, that's not exactly what happened but…I'm not ready to talk about it. Please just give me time, okay."

"I'm sorry Will." Irma said sadly.

"Don't worry about it." Will said hugging her friend who seemed to melt in her arms. Looking over Irma's shoulder Will saw a bulky boy making his way into the school's courtyard while giving the two a long look. For a moment Will's head started spinning but it quickly passed as she wondered why the boy looked so familiar.

"Thanks Will, I don't know what I'd do without you." Irma sighed, "I really love you."

Will smiled at the words, she could feel that Irma meant them completely. She knew that no matter what happened she really did have a friend in Irma and who knows maybe more. Irma almost seemed like the sister Will had always wanted though was glad she never had. If Will had a sister then she would have had o go through the same hells that Will herself did and that was something she didn't wish on anyone. That was he whole reason she couldn't talk to Irma about the truth, she couldn't burden the girl with her problems.

WITCH

"Are you sure, Blunk?" Caleb asked pinching his nose closed as the stench from the pastling was even worse than ever. If what the creature was saying was true then it would help a lot when Will started sealing the thirteen portals which was something that was gong to start happening very soon as Yan Lin had dug out the map of the portals which would aid the guardians in their quest but hinder Caleb's job.

"I heard it myself, there is a small patrol sent to retrieve the seal and bring it back to the castle." Blunk said.

"We don't have much time, we can't wait for the guardians and I'm not sure if it would even be a good idea to tell them." Caleb said rubbing his temples. He cared for Cornelia greatly as have been dreaming about her for years as she had him though he had yet to admit it to anyone despite Cornelia already doing so. He wanted nothing more than to hold the girl in his arms but was afraid of her safety and needed to free his world before he could allow himself that luxury. "I'm going to Meridian, where's the portal you used?"

"Blunk come with Caleb?" Blunk asked in hopes of Caleb not wanting him to.

"They'd smell you coming a mile away, Blunk." Caleb said cracking his knuckles, "No, this is something I have to take care of."

NOTES

Well, here's the first chapter for part three. So what does everyone think about this story and where its heading so far? I'm sure everyone can guess where the pairing is going which was a close to being a tie with Matt counting PM's, reviews and e-mails. This won out though just barely and hope everyone will like it.

Ideas? Suggestions? Comments? Please PM, e-mail or definitely leave a review please.

Xfilesoc: Thankies ,here's the newest chapter, hope you enjoyed.


	12. Trapped Memories part 2

Despite the way the morning started Will was having a pretty good day hanging out with Irma as the two shared many classes and the same lunch. Of course she could tell the guardian of water was a little depressed over the collar but they both had faith that they would find a way to remove it. Yan Lin was looking through many different books for a way to release the seal keeping the collar locked in place.

Will was getting a little nervous though as she stood in line with Irma to get their lunch while Irma kept making cracks about the cafeteria food. Finally Will got her tray and what passes as mac and beef, a roll, pudding, milk and some mixed vegetables and walked up to the cashier with Irma in tow.

"H-Hi, I'm on the free lunch program." Will said quietly as the woman pulled out a thick stack of papers.

"Name?" The cashier said.

"Will Vandom." Will said.

"Wilhelmina?" The woman asked.

"Yea, that's my full name." Will said nodding as the woman leafed through the huge stack of papers. Were all those really other students in the program also? Back in Fadden Hills there was probably only a couple students on it and everyone made fun of them constantly. She was ashamed to admit that she even followed the crowd and teased them a few times until Susan and Tony split and he drained the account effectively putting Will in that situation tough they still had all their stuff until they were forced to drop near everything and run.

"Let's go sit with the girls." Irma said as she paid for her lunch, the cashier motioning for Will to move on.

"Over here!" Hay Lin called from across the cafeteria earning several stranger looks from other students as Will started making her way towards them with Irma following close behind.

"Saved you two a seat." Taranee said motioning toward the two empty spaces next to the mocha skinned girl.

"Thanks." Irma said sitting next to Taranee while Will took the end seat next to Irma. Across from them sat Cornelia and Hay Lin taking their time eating while chatting.

"So how do you like Sheffield so far?" Hay Lin asked giddily, ignoring her meal as she looked over at Will who was making a face after tasting the mac and beef. One thing was for sure, when they started doing better she was going to start packing her lunch.

"So far so good except for this stuff." Will said, taking another bite. Sure it wasn't the best but it was edible and at the moment she couldn't be too picky. "Are they trying to poison us?"

"Hardly." Cornelia laughed, "They aren't smart enough to be that devious."

"It's usually not this bad, the normal cook is out sick." Irma said.

"Is everyone coming over tonight after school?" Hay Lin asked looking at each of the girls.

Will nodded as the other girls agreed, she would help find a way to get the collar off of Irma. She felt it was her fault in a way since she had the Heart and it was the reason that those things came after Irma.

"Great, I know my grandma will find something." Hay Lin said happily.

"Hey, you going to eat that?" Irma asked shoving her fork at Cornelia's pudding cup.

"Here." Cornelia sighed tossing the unopened cup at the grinning Irma.

"Thanks Corny." Irma grinned even more.

"Don't call me Corny." Cornelia said snatching the pudding cup from Irma's hands and glared at the girl.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" Irma said, her eyes watering in fake tears as her lips trembled a little. She stuck out her lower lip a little pouting and giving the blonde a pathetic look.

"Oh please." Cornelia groaned rolling her eyes before tossing the pudding back to a smirking Irma.

"Thanks Corny." Irma smirked catching it just before the battle of the pudding started, Will giggling at the antics the whole time. It really was great to be a part a part of such great friends even if the did drew the attention of most of the cafeteria.

WITCH

Caleb smirked as he tracked the group of soldiers heading toward the castle, one of the worst of Phobos's men in the middle of them on his mount and carrying a small box which must have had the Seal of Phobos in it. It was going to be hard to get it from them but Caleb was sure he could easily beat the guards but Frost himself would be a little difficult. Then there was the one wearing a cloak that also worried the boy, he couldn't see who was under it so it could have been anybody but if Phobos got the Seal it could create havoc. If Caleb could get it though he could use it to freely travel between Meridian and Earth.

They would take more than four hours to reach the castle which gave Caleb plenty of time to plan his attack. There would be a small pass coming up as they passed through a valley. He could cause an avalanche and trap them and sweep in and take the Seal while they were still confused and in shock over the avalanche. He had his plan of attack now all he had to do was wait for the perfect time.

WITCH

"Will, can you please stay for a minute?" Dean asked as the bell rang releasing all the students.

"Sure thing, Mister C." Will said.

"I'll wait outside." Irma said as she hurried out of the class.

"What's up?" Will asked a little nervously as she shrugged on her backpack and joined Dean at the front of the room as he erased the chalkboard.

"Do you have an hour or two you can spare?" Dean asked.

"Well, I was planning to go over to my friend's." Will sighed, "Why?"

"Well, I know your mom is working late tonight and I was hoping you would join me for n ice cream or something." Dean said scratching the back of his neck.

"Wait, you're asking me out?" Will asked in shock, anger filling her voice. He was her teacher and the man her mother seemed to like.

"Wait, it's nothing like that!" Dean said, flustered as he waved his hands in a warding gesture. "I just wanted to talk to you about your mother. I really like her but I want your blessing, I don't want to hurt your family."

"Why do you need my blessing?" Will asked, anger dissipating a little.

"Will, I really like your mother. A lot. I've never even believed in love at first sight until I met her." Dean explained, playing with the tip of his mustache as he became lost in thought.

"_You know it was love at first sight." Tony said smiling as he leaned in to kiss the dark haired woman deeply._

"_Mommy, daddy!" A little girl with red hair laughed throwing herself between the couple._

"_Hey sweetie." Susan said smiling at the little girl as the man picked her up._

"_How's my little girl doing?" Tony asked kissing the girl on the forehead._

"_Good daddy, mommy sad that we were going to the zoo today." The young Will said with a huge smile._

"_She did, did she?" Tony laughed, "Well if such a beautiful woman said we were I guess we are."_

"_Am I beautiful too daddy." Will asked._

"_As beautiful as your mother sprite." Tony smiled brightly._

"Will, are you okay?" Dean asked shaking Will's shoulder gently.

"Y-Yeah, I'm okay." Will said rubbing her eyes, "Just remembering something. I guess I can spare a few minutes before I head to the Dragon."

"I'm glad." Dean said smiling as Will looked toward the door.

"I'll be right back, I have to tell Irma.:" Will said walking out to the hall where Irma was leaning back against the wall right outside the door.

"So you'll be late coming to the Dragon?" Irma asked a little hurt.

"I won't be long Irma, I promise." Will sighed, "I have to talk to him, I don't want to see my mother hurt again."

"Again?" Irma asked her jaw dropping a little.

"Please, just tell the others I'll be there in just a little bit." Will said.

"Will, is there something wrong?" Irma asked, worry evident in her voice and eyes.

"Truthfully Irma, I don't know." Will said, "I don't honestly know if anything will ever be okay."

"Will?" Irma asked gently reaching out to Will.

"I have to go, I'll see you later Irma." Will said ducking back into the room.

"Ready Will?" Dean asked closing his briefcase and looking up at the redhead.

"Sure Mister C." Will said giving a strained smile.

"Please Will, when we aren't at school call me Dean." Dean said leading Will out of the class and out of the school building as several students watched them curiously.

"Dean, why are you really doing this?" Will asked as they got to the parking lot and to a red SUV.

"Because Will, like I said I really like your mother but I want your blessing." Dean said unlocking the SUV and let Will in before climbing in himself. After he started it he pulled out of the parking place and out of the lot onto the road. "Will, I also want you to know if you ever need anything I'll be here for you."

"I don't need a damned father figure." Will said a little heatedly before deflating. If he really loved her mom and was good to her she didn't want to get in the way. Her mom deserved to be happy after the hell they have been through. Hopefully Will would find someone herself soon who made her feel something, anything instead of the loneliness that permeated her heart. "Look, Dean, I'm sorry but I really don't need or want another father figure but if you really like my mom you have my blessing but I'm not the helpless girl I used to be." Will said feeling the Heart under her shirt. "If you hurt my mom I'll hurt you."

"I'd never hurt her, Will." Dean said stopping at a red light a block away from the Silver Dragon.

"Thanks for the offer but I really have to go." Will sighed jumping out of the SUV, "Just remember as long as you make her happy we're cool."

"Are you sure you don't want the ice cream." Dean smiled.

:"I'm sure, see you later Dean." Will said shutting the door before hurrying down the street before Dean decided to follow her.

NOTES

Sorry for the shortness of the chapter but I won't have much time for the next week or two to update though I'll try. In the mean time if you want to check out the English translations of the W.i.t.c.h. comics check out Mooncloud's site which the link can be found on my profile. She has all the way up through volume 64 done so check it out.

Speaking of profile, I have my new homepage done f you want to check it out though there isn't much yet.

Xfilesoc: Thankies, here's the next update.

Riot: Thankies, I'm glad you liked Vathek and I can say for sure Phobos is planning something but it doesn't involve Vathek. I wanted to make Irma's relationship a little better with Anna but I also wanted to base it from the comics since Anna really isn't Irma's mom. Will is a little shocked over Tom's behavior but she will open up a little more to him maybe. I'm still ironing out the details though I know pretty much where this is going. I just hope you and everyone else likes the next few chapters, especially what happens with the Seal of Phobos since it is something that didn't happen in the comics or show, at least I don't think it did. As for the castle, I like the design in the show but I also want the black roses and murmurers and all of that. Miranda will be in it and for a little spoiler about her, she will not be matched with Cedric as there will be another pairing for him in the third arc when I introduce another character from the comics though said character won't be as angry with the girls as she was in the beginning of the comics as the events to cause the anger won't happen. Thankies and don't worry about the questions, I love them.


	13. Trapped Memories part 3

"Will, thank god you're here!" Cornelia cried out happily as soon as the redhead walked into Hay Lin's room where the girls and Yan Lin was waiting.

"What's wrong?" Will asked, "Did you find a way to get the collar off Irma."

"Actually, that's the good news. It sounds like this Seal of Phobos should be able to unlock it and it sounds like Cornelia may already have it." Hay Lin said excitedly bouncing from foot to foot.

"Problem is Blunk just told us a few minutes ago that Caleb went to Meridian because there was news that the Seal was found there and they have an armed guard escorting it back to the castle." Yan Lin sighed, "Foolish boy, he should have waited for you girls."

"We have to help him." Cornelia said, her eyes clearly shimmering from the unshed tears from the worry the blonde was feeling. Looking toward an oddly quiet Irma caused Will's head to hurt a little. She knew Cornelia wasn't going to like this but if it was the Seal then they would have to split up.

"Why do you think that you have the Seal of Phobos?" Will sighed dropping her pack to the floor and sitting on the edge of the bed.

"Elyon and I found it in her basement a long time ago and I thought it was kind of cool looking so she gave it to me." Cornelia said, "Why are we talking about this, we have to go help Caleb."

"We will." Will said causing the blonde to smile in relief, "What did you do with it though?"

"I had to give it to my sister awhile back, she kind of blackmailed me." Cornelia sighed.

"Will, there may be another way to remove the collar." Irma said softly, almost too softly too be heard. "Use your powers and wake it up."

"Irma, I don't want to hurt you." Will said.

"Will, please just try it real quick, I'll be okay. I'd rather be able to go and help if I could." Irma said raising her voice a little though it seemed a little shaky as she was obviously a little scared.

"Do it, Will." Yan Lin smiled, "It may work."

"Fine." Will sighed getting up and walking over to Irma who looked deeply into her eyes as the redhead put her hands on the other girl's shoulders. "If it hurts I'm stopping, okay?"

"Sure." Irma said swallowing. Will slowly moved her hands up the girls shoulders and slid her hands inside the turtleneck sweater and gently curled her fingers around the choker as she closed her eyes concentrating. She was broke out of it by a sharp cry of pain from Irma causing the redhead's eyes to snap open to see the girl crying as she leaned back against the wall.

"Oh my god, Irma!" Will cried hugging the other girl, "Are you okay?"

"I'm okay." Irma said after a few moments pushing Will away, "You guys better get going."

"Cornelia, take Irma and get the Seal from your house." Will sighed knowing the blonde was going to blow up.

"WHAT? I have to save Caleb." Cornelia snapped.

"Cornelia, Irma is just as important as him and she needs our help as much as Caleb does." Will said.

"It's okay, Will." Irma said with an odd smile while looking weirdly at Will.

"No it's not, Irma." Will aid shaking her head, "I'm not going to leave that thing on you any longer than I have to. Taranee and Hay Lin will come with me to Meridian and get Caleb."

"Will." Cornelia started as Will squeezed her shoulder and looked straight in the blonde's eyes.

"We'll bring him back, Cornelia. Please trust us." Will said as Cornelia bit her lip before nodding a little reluctantly.

"Blunk said the portal is in the alley, as soon as you girls get back use the Heart to seal the portal." Yan Lin said.

WITCH

Dean sighed as Will left walking briskly toward the Silver Dragon, he had hoped things would have went better than this. He really did care deeply for Susan, it seemed that they clicked instantly and he was hoping the same would happen with Will. He was a little worried about the red head hanging around with Yan Lin's granddaughter since he really didn't get along very well with the elder woman. She was one of the people who he felt was responsible for his Aunt's death though admittedly she wasn't directly responsible but the crap the five of them was into was what led Cassidy to being killed.

He didn't want anything bad happening to Will and he doubted that she was involved in the stuff his Aunt was in as there was five of them and with the addition of Will there were six girls who hung out. Cornelia and Elyon were best friends as long as he had known the girls then there was Hay Lin and Irma who were the same. The two pairs of friends started hanging out when they came to Sheffield. Then Taranee came and they accepted her into their clique as they seemed to do with Will when the redhead showed up which actually put his fears to rest for the most part.

Still, he needed to be sure though, he liked Will and someday would even love to be her step father. He knew that he wanted to spend his life with Susan, true he only knew her for a day but he could tell she was the one that he had been waiting for his whole life. It wasn't just lust either, he could feel a connection with the woman the first time they looked into each other's eyes and he knew Susan felt the same way.

Sighing he pulled the car to a curb and parked, he was kind of hungry and he might as well eat at the Silver Dragon. That way maybe he could at least give Will a ride home when she got done there. Climbing from the SUV he started walking to the Chinese Restaurant when he heard something coming from the alley that made his blood run cold.

"Okay, you two head over to Cornelia's and see if that is the Seal of Phobos." Will voice came, "Taranee and Hay Lin will come with me to intercept Caleb and rescue his sorry but."

"Will, please let me come." Cornelia begged.

"Cornelia, we can handle this." Will sighed, "Trust us, you two need to get the Seal so we can see if it will help Irma."

"Okay." Cornelia sighed.

"Okay, let's do this." Will said, "Guardian's unite!"

A bright flash of light and a minute later Cornelia followed by Irma walked out of the alley where Dean was standing.

"Hello girls." Dean said a little angrily as he crossed his arms.

"M-Mister Collins." Cornelia gasped spotting him.

"Hey Mister C." Irma said looking up into his upset brown eyes.

"Girls, where did Will go?" Dean asked looking sternly at the two girls who was acting very nervous. He knew what was going on and he had no idea what to do about it or even what t say to the girls. He would have to talk to Will as he was sure she was the one who called out 'Guardians unite!" which meant she was the keeper.

"She had to meet her mom somewhere." Cornelia said dragging Irma around the man and down the street running.

"Will, what did you get yourself into?" Dean asked softly shaking his head while sending a silent prayer that the girls would be okay.

WITCH

"Do you think he saw?" Irma asked after Cornelia let of her hand as the two stopped running, leaning over holding their knees as they tried to catch their breath.

"I hope not but we better be more careful." Cornelia said.

"Corny…I'm sorry that your stuck with me." Irma sighed sadly.

"Don't be." Cornelia said hugging the girl tightly, "Will was right, you are just as important as Caleb if not more. We've been friends since like forever while It hasn't been more than a week since I met Caleb."

"But your dreams." Irma said though she couldn't help smiling, she knew that Cornelia was serious. Things had been a little strained between the two lately after Cornelia found out Irma's secret but like Hay Lin she had accepted her. Taranee and Will didn't know yet and Irma wasn't sure she wanted to tell them despite her feelings for the redhead.

"So you believed me?" Cornelia asked raising an eyebrow.

"Of course I did, I only teased you about them to get a rise out of you." Irma said sadly.

"Irma…You know that I love you, we're like sisters. All of us are and I'm sorry for the hard time I gave you when I first found out." Cornelia said as she hugged Irma, "And as much as I like mushy moments we better break this one up."

"Yeah, though I have to admit I kinda liked it." Irma said with a smirk before running off towards Cornelia's penthouse. After a few moments the blonde's face turned red before giving an enraged shout before giving chase.

"What…Kept…You." Irma huffed, trying to catch her breath as she leaned against the elevator.

"I can't believe how perverted you can be, Irma." Cornelia snapped though the corners of her mouth kept twitching as her lips kept trying to curve into a smile.

"And I'm proud of it." Irma said as the elevator dinged as the doors slid open. Just a few moments later found the two walking into the lavish penthouse belonging to Cornelia's family.

"Mom, where's Lillian?" Cornelia asked as soon as they saw the woman doing aerobics in front of the fifty-four inch plasma television mounted on the wall.

"What did she do this time?" The woman sighed in annoyance.

"Nothing mom, I just need to ask her something." Cornelia sighed as her mother smiled a little.

"Good, I wish you two wouldn't fight as much as you do. She looks up to you." The woman said, "She's in her room."

"Thanks mom." Cornelia said as she led Irma through the living room and through the hallway ignoring the cry of "Shoes!"

"Lillian, I need your help." Cornelia said deciding it best to get to the point. If she tried to beat around the bush it would only make it harder to deal with the younger girl.

"What do you want?" Lillian asked skeptically looking p from the dollhouse she was sitting at.

"That weird necklace I gave you." Cornelia said as the girl clutched at her chest. Cornelia realized that the girl was clutching the necklace through her shirt.

"Please don't take it away from me." Lillian said, her eyes watering. "I'm really sorry I blackmailed it out of you but…I just wanted something from you."

"Y-Your serious, why did you want something from me? Trying to just take as much as you can you little brat?" Cornelia growled as Irma knelt down next to the girl.

"Sweetie, what's wrong?" Irma asked ruffling the smaller blonde's hair.

"I…I just wanted to be like Cornelia. I really look up to her." Lillian said softly.

"Oh Lillian." Cornelia sighed dropping down to the girl and hugging her. "I'm sorry I haven't been the best big sister. I'll tell you what, I'll take you to see that new movie you wanted to see this weekend and give you anything you want out of my jewelry box if you give us that necklace. It's very important, Lillian."

The small girl played with the necklace a few moments before reluctantly pulling it off and giving it to Cornelia. "Just promise me that you will hang out with me more."

"I promise squirt." Cornelia said kissing the top of the girls head, "I'll play with you as soon as I get home tonight."

"Thanks Cornelia." Lillian said as Irma and Cornelia got up.

"No big, squirt." Cornelia said, "I'll see you later."

WITCH

Yan Lin looked at the necklace that Cornelia had brought back comparing it to the picture in the book though it was useless. She could feel the power radiating from the Seal and it disturbed her greatly and the two girls looking over her shoulder wasn't helping any.

"Will it get this thing off?" Irma asked hopefully reaching out toward the necklace and picked it up before Yan Lin could stop her. She didn't know what was happening as darkness started poring out of the Seal even after she dropped it. Cornelia and Yan Lin both tried to reach out to her but a bolt of black lightning struck them knocking them into the wall. The darkness swirled around Irma as she tried to back away and started soaking into her until she fell to the ground shaking and convulsing in pain.

NOTES

A few people asked about what would happen if Dean followed Will and though it wasn't my original intentions I came up with this chapter. Thanks XV-Dragon and CCRox4Eva for the idea, hope everyone likes it and I'm sure they figured out Dean's relation with the old guardians.

Samantha Palacios: Thankies, glad you enjoyed it.


	14. Trapped Memories part 4

Irma groaned, protesting the light that was intruding on the blissful darkness that she was in a few moments before. Sitting up slowly she was able to tell that she was lying in Hay Lin's bed while the other four girls and Yan Lin was scattered throughout the room, various looks on their faces though they all had a serious air about them.

"What's going on?" Irma asked, her voice sounding a little hoarse as she raised her hand to he neck to find the collar gone. She smiled happily as she realized she was free of the damned thing.

"Irma, please leave." Hay Lin said while trying to avoid looking in the brunette's eyes.

"What? Why?" Irma asked, a little confused though she was shaking a little in fear as a part of her knew why and knew that this was coming for a long time.

"It's like this, Irma." Will said while glaring hatefully at Irma, "We don't want or need trash like you around here! I can't believe that you…God I can't even say it, it's too disgusting!"

"Calm down, Will." Cornelia said coming behind the redhead and looking over the girl's shoulder at Irma who was struggling to get up as her eyes started watering. Her knees felt so weak as she stood up looking from friend to friend realizing that they were all looking at her in disgust.

"Irma, I don't want to be friends with a lez, it's…DISGUSTING!" Taranee sneered, "God, do you watch all the girls in the showers?"

"NO!" Irma cried, "I never…Okay…Maybe I did sneak a peak at…" Irma cried as she looked at the redhead she couldn't help feeling these things for.

"I so didn't need to hear that." Will snarled, shuddering in disgust.

"Irma, someone like you can't be a guardian." Yan Lin explained, her voice sounding kind of sad.

"Irma, we don't ever want to see you again." Taranee said adjusting her glasses, fire reflecting in the lenses.

"If I ever see you looking at me again you disgusting piece of trash I swear I'll make you suffer." Will snarled advancing on Irma who kept backing away until bumping into the door. Spinning around Irma yanked open the door and ran out of the bedroom and down the stairs ignoring the calls from Hay Lin's parents as she ran through the kitchen and out the back.

She didn't care where she was going or what happened to her as in just a few minutes she lost every friend she ever really had. Well, the ones she thought of as family and what they said to her hurt. It felt like someone driving a knife through her heart and she would have rather someone do that than her friends turn on her like they did. She really liked her powers but she would rather have her friends than not have her powers and be a guardian. Cornelia and Hay Lin had accepted her she thought which is what hurt even more. She had let her guard down with them and for what? To be humiliated and destroyed like this?

"What are you doing here?" A nasally voice asked drawing the sobbing girl's attention to a familiar pest of a boy. Then again maybe hanging out with the geek would help raise her spirits a little.

"H-Hey Martin." Irma sniffed wiping her eyes as she tried to smile for the boy.

"Don't talk to me like we're friends!" Martin growled brushing past her and continuing down the street away from the brunette who was doing an impersonation of a fish trying to figure out what to say. What happened to the boy who had a hopeless crush on her and constantly pestered her. Why was he turning against her too? It wasn't fair!

Realizing where she was standing she decided she'd go inside and hope that her father was there to cheer her up. She really needed something right then, she was losing everything, her whole world was ending and she didn't know what to do about it. She was losing what little control she had left over her rapidly deteriorating worthless life.

"Hey Irma." One of the officers said as she walked into the building, "Your dad is in his office."

"Thanks." Irma sighed, trying to ignore the leers at her from the officers in the station as she walked back and knocked on her father's office door. After a few moments his voice called out telling her to come in.

"Dad." Irma sniffed as she opened the door moving into his office. Upon seeing her his kind expression turned to a furious one as he slammed his fist down on his desk.

"What are you doing here?" Tom snarled angrily, "And don't call me that, I have no daughter."

"What?" Irma cried, fresh tears falling as she shook her head in disbelief. It couldn't be, not him too. He was her father, how could he be doing this to her?

"I will not have some freak for a daughter." Tom growled out, "Get out of my office, I can't even stand looking at you right now."

"Dad." Irma sobbed stepping toward his desk but was stopped as he slapped her hard causing her head to spin to the side, her hand holding her throbbing jaw.

"Don't call me that you little piece of filth." Tom growled, "Get out of my station now!"

"Why are you doing this?" Irma sobbed as Tom stood up, knocking a can of Diet Pepsi over causing him to curse. The enraged look on his face scared Irma causing her to turn and run without even looking where she was going. She was alone with no one to turn to now and she had no clue on what to do.

Anna, the woman knew about Irma and didn't mind that she was bi-sexual. Maybe she could help Irma, at least talk to Tom and straighten things out. With a destination in mind she hurried home in hopes of Anna helping her but there was something in the back of her mind telling her that it was hopeless. She should just give up her life and end everything. All the pain and loneliness could easily be stopped, it wouldn't take much.

She wanted to do just that as she walked into her yard and noticed the numerous bags of trash being thrown into the back of the garbage truck. That was weird since they usually came early in the morning before she was even up. One of the men loading the truck dropped a bag and it burst open spilling her clothes on the ground.

"Irma, what are you doing here?" Anna asked coldly coming down the front steps and walking over to the teenager.

"Mom, what's gong on?" Irma asked, looking up at the woman that she finally accepted as a mother but the cold uncaring look she was receiving hurt the younger girl.

"I tried my best to straighten you out but you refused all my help." Anna said, "Tom doesn't even want to see you ever again, he doesn't need the bad publicity of his dyke daughter and I don't want him to ruin his career either."

"What's all this?" Irma cried, unable to hold back any tears as she watched in horror as the men drove off with all her stuff.

"They're taking your stuff where trash like you belong." Anna sneered.

"You lied to me." Irma cried refusing to meet the woman's eyes.

"No, Irma, I tried to HELP you but you refused every bit I gave you." Anna said, "No one likes filth like you or want you around."

Irma spun on her heels once again taking off from the last hope she had and strangely losing her hurt worse than losing everyone else except for a certain redhead. Running as fast as she could, as if trying to escape all of her pain she ran into the park where she was surprised that no one was at. She didn't care though, she just walked over to a swing and sat down in it while hugging herself tightly and leaning forward letting everything out as she cried loudly for everything she had lost because she couldn't change what she was.

"Hey Irma." Will said sitting in a swing next to her, a small caring smile creeping across her lips, "Please don't cry."

"Why shouldn't I?" Irma sobbed looking up at the redhead who dropped to her knees and crawled over to Irma taking the brunette's hand and looked up into the teary girl's eyes. Reaching up the redhead brushed Irma's tears away gently, her soft hazel eyes showing nothing but concern and love for the brunette.

"Get away from her!" A second Will screamed from the entrance to the park, hatred and disgust filling her expression. Irma looked up at the two different Wills with fear and uncertainty. A voice kept telling Irma to just give in and end her pitiful existence. The warm feeling she was getting from the Will holding her hands kneeling before her though was keeping her from doing just that.

"Go away." The kind Will said glaring at the hateful Will.

"Why don't you?" The hateful Will asked as the two redhead's glared at each other challengingly.

NOTES

I originally planned this chapter to be twice as long but I wanted to post something so everyone would know that I'm still working on this though it will take a bit of time this week since I'll be busy though I am trying to spend my free time writing and working on my web page. I already posted it as my homepage in my profile and though there isn't any ideas there yet I will be posting chapters for stories I've been thinking about writing and may make into a full story. I will be making Fear or Hate into a full story and will be working on it soon.

Riot: Thankies, that is an actual program at our school for kids who didn't have enough money to buy their lunch so I used it here. Not sure yet but it might not be a guy exactly. I wanted Collins to be friends with Will though him being Cassidy's nephew was something I was a little nervous about but I'm really glad everyone seems to like it so far. That is going to be the hard thing because if he doesn't tell Susan she'll be pissed but if he does Will will be pissed. I'm open to suggestions on what to d there. Mrs. Rudolph will be in here for sure as she was an important character though they won't freak out much about her when they find out, though I guess that could change before I get to that part. The Seal is going to something that I hope is original though the collar will maybe help try to negate it but for now, as my favorite priest says, "That is a secret." The next chappie will also be mostly Irma centric again though it will have a glimpse into Will's past then it will have the first part of the min Meridian and the next chappie will be them escaping Meridian. I really want Lillian and Cornelia to have a good relationship in this story.


	15. Trapped Memories part 5

"Because you don't belong here you fraud!" The kind Will said standing up and in front of Irma protectively. "You aren't really Will, this world isn't real! It's just some sick game you're playing with her!"

"What do you care Alancia?" The hateful Will asked, "Are you trying to take over this body too? You know the best way is to get the soul to give up then let it kill itself freeing up the body to move right on in."

"I don't want her body and I won't let you hurt her. I was designed to punish strong magical beings who was a danger to others, not even knowing anything else until her friend gave me a life! If I wasn't weakened from it you wouldn't even be here so it's my responsibility to protect her now that you are." Alancia said, her form shimmering and changing into Will's guardian form with pink electricity arcing across her body.

"As if I'm afraid of you, I have the power of Phobos backing me up!" The hateful Will snarled, changing also as black electricity arced across her body. "I won't give up such a prime specimen as this, she will be MINE!" With the last words the hateful Will launched a bolt of lightning at Alancia who crossed her arms in an X before her blocking the attack so it wouldn't hit Irma.

"I won't let you hurt her." Alancia said blocking the steady stream of dark electricity, beginning to buckle.

"Wh-What's going on?" Irma asked weakly, a little fear in her voice.

"Irma, this is all in your mind! The Seal of Phobos is trying to get you to destroy yourself so it can take over your body, help me fight it!" Alancia cried as the stream of power grew, "I'm still too weak, I'm sorry."

"H-How do I fight?" Irma asked standing up, her knees feeling weak under her.

"Transform!" Alancia called out to her.

"I can't, not without the heart!" Irma said looking for anything she could use as a weapon.

"Yes you can, this may be because of that THING but it's still in your mind! Take control, just concentrate and you can do anything." Alancia called taking a chance to look over her shoulder at Irma when Will strengthened the attack knocking Alancia away with it.

"NO!" Irma cried out as geysers of water shot up everywhere, a pillar engulfing her, washing over her body changing it as it went. When the pillar died away Irma stood in guardian form staring at Will.

"Oh please, water only amplifies electricity." Will scoffed, throwing a bolt at Irma who threw up her hands and creating a ball of water absorbing the lightning much to the fake redhead's shock.

"Well, lets see if it does!" Irma cried lashing out at the shocked girl slamming into her, dark electricity dancing around the water causing the redhead to scream in agony. Letting up on the attack Irma saw a crying redhead drop to the ground curling up into a ball before disappearing.

"Y-You did it." Alancia gasped as she limped over to Irma.

"Thanks, is everything that happened really fake? Just in my mind?" Irma asked hopefully.

"No one hates you, Irma. Especially not Will, she wants so much to open up to you completely." Alancia said hugging the distraught girl. "I don't and I know Will doesn't, I have all her memories and most of her personality. In a way, I am her but I don't really understand how. It shouldn't have been possible for her to effect me in anyway but I'm glad she did." Alancia said, stepping back and looking hopefully at Irma. "I'm not alone anymore, I have a life and a…a friend."

"You mean you want to be friends?" Irma asked in surprise.

"Please." Alancia asked giving a puppy dog pout to the brunette.

"Of course I'll be your friend but how?" Irma asked.

"When you wear me we can talk in your mind and when you sleep your body can rest and we can hang out here." Alancia said poking Irma's forehead with a finger.

"B-But how do I…" Irma started but was stopped when Alancia put a finger to her lips.

"It's okay, Irma." Alancia smiled, "I think I can change the collar so you can take it off whenever you want and as for blocking your powers, think of me as a firewall. I can make exceptions for anything that won't hurt you."

"Firewall?" Irma asked in surprise.

"Will's mom is taking classes to be a bigshot at a computer company, Will's picked up a lot of stuff helping her mom study." Alancia smiled.

"Thanks." Irma said hugging the redhead happily.

"Your welcome." Alancia smiled blushing a little.

Irma smiled and walked back over to the swings taking one of them as she relaxed a little. She was still unsure of what exactly was going on but it seemed so real and a part of her was sure that it would become reality given the chance which was why she didn't want too many people knowing.

"Alancia?" Irma asked when the redhead took the swing next to Irma's, "If you have Will's memories you know what happened to her dad, right?"

"I…I can show you." Alancia sighed looking at something on the ground with a sad look. "It isn't pretty though."

"Please, I want to understand her better. I know something happened to make her hate cops and I really want to know." Irma sighed, "I also want to know if there is any chance for us."

"Irma…I can tell you for sure that Will has never truly felt anything for anyone. She's been on a few dates but she was never comfortable with anyone and all I can say is to try." Alancia smiled a little at Irma, "If you are sure about knowing the truth about why Will hates cops I'll show you, but It's not what you think."

"I…I want to know." Irma said nervously having a bad feeling about this. Did she even really have a right finding out this way? She didn't think so but she couldn't help the redhead if she didn't know the truth.

"Okay." Alancia sighed as everything went black a few moments, Alancia vanishing into it. Irma wasn't sure where she was as she couldn't even see herself but she did watch as a scene fade into view. Alancia…No, Will was sitting curled up on a couch in the living room of a sparsely decorated living room clutching a pillow to her chest crying into it. Looking closer Irma could make out a nasty black eye and a split lip.

There was a picture lying on the floor by the wall away from the couch. It kind of looked like there was broken glass from the shattered frame around it. Irma could make out Will and Susan in the picture but there was a man that she had never seen before holding Susan as she hugged Will to them all three smiling.

"What happened?" Irma asked looking back at the injured face of Will.

"Her father came over last night and when Susan wasn't here turned his attention on Will." Alancia's voice replied echoing from everywhere. "He…He used to be a really good man but he had a gambling problem and got into a little bit of trouble. He turned to alcohol and drugs to drown his sorrows in causing the man he was to be lost when this monster took his place. He beat Susan on and off for a full year with him ending up in jail several times but he was released with no charges the next day even though Susan pressed charges."

"Is that why Will hates cops?" Irma asked feeling her eyes watering.

"In part, yes. She became very distrustful of the police over this but Susan was convinced she could save the man she feel in love with and Will did her best to support her mother. She knew how much her mother loved her father and kept quiet when he started hitting Will when he got drunk. She even kept quiet when he started touching her when Susan wasn't home." Alancia said, her voice filled with sadness.

"He raped her?" Irma gasped in shock.

"No but he had felt her up several times but Will would get away and lock herself in her room. He would get pissed and beat on the door but he would tire himself out and leave her alone. When Susan found out he was hitting Will she threw him out." Alancia explained. "That was one of the biggest fears she had though, that and him killing Susan or herself. He would have this last time, he had completely snapped."

"Will." Susan cried running in the front door causing Will to sit up in shock, "Grab a few changes of clothes, we have to leave now!"

"M-Mom?" Will asked rubbing her eyes.

"Honey, they let him out a few minutes ago. Lucy called and told me that they were doing it and said she'd try and buy us some time." Susan cried hurrying to the kitchen and grabbing a couple fresh trash bags since Tony had taken their luggage when she threw him out. "I-I called those apartments in Heatherfield on the way here, I know we was going to wait another week and try to find a better place but we don't have a choice."

"He's going to kill us, isn't he?" Will sobbed hugging herself before Susan drew her into a hug.

"No honey, we'll be okay we just have to get out of here. He will never think to look for us in Heatherfield." Susan said pushing Will away a little, "Honey, I need you to be strong right now, we need to hurry."

"Why did they let him out, they had three witnesses!" Will cried as she took a bag and hurried toward her room.

"They're on his damn payroll!" Susan said angrily as she went to her own room.

"That's why they didn't have anything?" Irma asked softly.

"Yes, Susan didn't have much money because most the money she had saved was in a joint bank account that he drained." Alancia explained. "Susan had plans of bringing Will here because she had a great job opportunity but the classes she was taken was messed up. It wasn't her fault so the company is helping her with an express class then she will have a promotion and they will be okay. Its just making it that long and they will be fine."

"I can't believe someone could do that to people they were supposed to love." Irma sniffed as the scene started fading.

"Are you okay?" Alancia asked in concern, her voice growing weaker.

"Y-Yeah." Irma sighed, "Are you?"

"The Seal of Phobos is still trying to break through, I don't have the power to block it and stay here with you. I'm sorry, I'll talk with you some more later but for now I need to concentrate on fighting the Seal off." Alancia said as the redhead faded away leaving Irma to think about what she said.

WITCH

"What the hell happened?" Cornelia grumbled rubbing her head before looking up at the crumpled Irma on the floor whimpering and convulsing as the Seal of Phobos floated above her with a dark cloud surrounding it.

"Cornelia, go through the portal and get Will." Yan Lin gasped, fighting to keep standing, "I can't hold a glamour for long and we need the Heart to fight the Seal."

"What about Irma?" Cornelia asked with worry looking on the fallen form of her friend. She should have never mentioned that damned seal but then again if she didn't would Lillian have fallen to this? In fact, why hasn't it done anything like this before?

"Hurry Cornelia." Yan Lin gasped, a bead of sweat forming on her furrowed brow.

"I'm going." Cornelia said saying a silent prayer for her friend's safety.

NOTES

Wow, ended up with a free day and was able to finish this. Hope you enjoy it.


	16. Trapped Memories part 6

Will couldn't keep from scratching every few moments as she was sure that the cloaks that they got off that merchant was infested with fleas or Meridian's equivalent anyways. They hadn't taken long to make the trek across town after Taranee dried the man's firewood and laundry in exchange for the cloaks which Will was wondering if it was such a good bargain with all the itching.

Looking around her though made her think about what kind of hell these people were going through under Phobos's rule. True most didn't look like people by any normal standards but they were, just different. Faulting them for their appearance would be like faulting Taranee because the color of her skin or Hay Lin because of the slant in her eyes and it would be a cold day in hell that Will would hurt her friends by putting them down because they were different. In fact that was part of why Will loved them as friends and maybe sisters, they were all different both inside and out and yet that was what made them so strong and what gave Will the confidence that they would one day triumph over Phobos. While one of them may have a weakness the others' strengths more than made up for it and with the five supporting each other she knew that they could do anything.

Looking closer at some of the buildings and people Will started noticing the terrible shape they were in and how malnourished many of the people looked. It broke Will's heart to see the children hungry and so sad, she vowed that she would do everything possible to help these people while learning to appreciate everything that she had. She was so much better off than these people despite her hardships.

"Are you okay Will?" Hay Lin asked softly moving close to the redhead, the Asian's girl drew tightly around herself like Will and Taranee as they tried to keep as low a profile as they could.

"Yeah, just thinking how good I have it compared to these people." Will sighed.

"This is barbaric, to treat these people like this." Taranee whispered with anger in her voice, "I was hoping that Caleb was overstating how bad it was but now I don't think he even began to cover how bad it is here."

"Were are we going?" Hay Lin asked as Will looked carefully around them before pulling out the Heart letting it dangle off the chain in the air. After concentrating a few moments the Heart started glowing before pointing the way they were going. She quickly returned the Heart under her cloak and looked at the valley coming up.

"I don't like this." Will said as she saw a group of people about to come out of the valley. She couldn't really see who the group was but the sudden avalanche blocked their exit and caused Will to grumble in annoyance. She knew who was behind that avalanche without a shadow of the doubt meaning that they were too late to intercept Caleb and they would probably have to fight.

"What was that?" Hay Lin asked.

"Three guesses and the first two don't count." Will growled throwing off her cloak and stretching her wings. So much for keeping a low profile. Taranee and Hay Lin followed suit as the three flew into the air heading to the avalanche.

WITCH

Caleb smirked as the guards and Frost entered the valley, him standing at the end of it on top of one side of it looking down as he hid behind a large rock. He knew it was actually a stupid and clichéd plan but he was certain it would work and give him an advantage. He didn't really plan to fight all of them, just stall Frost and grab the Seal of Phobos and get out of there.

He waited until they were close enough to where the avalanche would hurt but not kill anyone. He especially wanted to temporarily take out Frost's mount so it would be much easier to make his escape. Still though even Frost's mount couldn't climb and the guards he doubted could climb as well as he could which was why this was the perfect plan for him.

Standing up he kicked the large rock knocking it off the jutting edge, it slamming into other rocks on the way down causing a chain reaction. Unfortunately the ground just below his feet decided to join in the avalanche taking Caleb with it causing him to tumble to the ground along with the rest of the rocks and right in the middle of the mostly uninjured guards who eyed him in anger.

"Oh crap." Caleb mumbled climbing to his feet, favoring his bruised and battered side.

"Oh crap indeed rebel scum." Frost sneered from on top of his mount. He looked up just in time to see the guardians hovering above him before a sword was plunged into his side causing him to cry out as he fell to the ground, the guard pulling his blade back from Caleb's limp form.

The last thing he could think of before the darkness claimed him was of a blonde haired blue eyed girl who he knew was his angel.

WITCH

"CALEB!" Will cried in shock as she watched the rebel leader fall at the hands of one of the gray skinned guards.

"Guardian." The cloak figure hissed before growing larger, his rapidly increasing size tearing the cloak he wore from his body revealing a huge snake like man. It was Cedric and that wasn't the least bit good for them.

"Where's my pet, guardian?" Frost sneered drawing his sword and leering at Will.

"You want a pet? Here's your damned pet!" Will screamed in rage throwing the largest blast of lightning she ever had at the gawking rider completely blowing him off the mount and through the wall of the valley.

"Get them!" Cedric screamed, the guards drawing bows and taking aim at the three guardians launching a barrage of arrows at the girls. Cedric slithered toward where Will was hovering just above Caleb checking on him. Will sighed in relief when she saw him breathing but she knew they had to get him to a hospital. Hay Lin and Taranee was taking turns deflecting the arrows while they kept them away from the redhead while she checked on the injured Caleb.

"Why are you doing this?" Will demanded glaring at the towering creature who whose glaring hatefully at the redhead. "How can you help a bastard like Phobos while all these people suffer?"

"What do you know of suffering?" Cedric snarled, whipping his tail out at Will as she dodged it but a blast of energy launched her through the pile of rocks.

"Come on, snakey." Will groaned standing back up weakly while glaring at Cedric. She took a few moments regaining her strength before flying toward the creature. "My dad hits harder than you, is that the best you can do?"

"Will!" Cornelia cried running through the pretty much now cleared opening of the valley.

"Cornelia!" Will cried out looking back at the blonde pulling out the Heart and changing Cornelia into her guardian form. Will was saddened when she realized Irma wasn't there but was glad for the backup all the same.

"Caleb!" Cornelia shrieked as she saw the bloodied form of the boy lying on the ground. Tears sprang to her eyes as they started glowing green and an invisible wind started whipping around her causing her long golden locks to blow about chaotically.

"Another guardian, how quaint." Cedric laughed.

"You…Piece…Of…SHIT!" Cornelia screamed in outrage throwing out her hand as the ground started shaking violently before a crack in the ground started forming, rocks starting to fall down the sides of the valley walls as the ground split open underneath of Cedric and the guards including Frost's mount swallowing them up.

"Cornelia." Will said softly landing next to the blonde girl but was ignored as Cornelia walked slowly toward the prone body of Caleb, tears falling freely as Hay Lin and Taranee landed on either side of Will.

"It isn't fair." Cornelia choked out as she kneeled down beside Caleb pulling his head in her lap cradling it.

"Cornelia, I'm really sorry." Will sniffed moving closer to the blonde, "We still might be able to help him if we get him back to Earth."

"Will…There isn't a pulse. He isn't breathing." Cornelia sobbed ending over and sobbing loudly encircling her arms around him. She didn't notice though when they started growing green. "I-I don't blame you…He was stupid but I loved him!"

"Cornelia." Hay Lin said softly.

"This isn't fair." Cornelia cried, "Please leave me alone with him."

"Cornelia." Taranee said a little louder as Cornelia kept her eyes closed crying as Caleb's body started glowing green.

"Please, leave me alone." Cornelia cried sitting back up and glaring at the three girls as Caleb stiffly sat up unknown to the blonde.

"Cornelia?" Caleb asked stiffly causing the blonde to cry out and spin around to face Caleb who was smiling sheepishly. Cornelia cried out throwing her arms around Caleb's neck and kissed him deeply. His eyes widened in surprise for a second before closing them , losing himself in the kiss until Cornelia brought him out of it with a hard slap to the cheek.

"You asshole!" Cornelia cried, "How can you be so selfish? Do you have any idea what would you were putting me through? How about all the people who need you here? How the hell are you supposed to do anything if your DEAD!"

"Cornelia, I'm really sorry." Caleb sighed looking away from the blonde.

"Just…Just don't do it again you idiot." Cornelia sighed leaning back into his chest as he wrapped his arms around her breathing in the scent of her hair as he rested his chin on top of her head.

"I won't, I never meant to hurt you Cornelia, you mean too much to me to ever hurt you intentionally." Caleb sighed rubbing her back.

"I'm sorry to break this up Cornelia, but what happened with Irma?" Will asked softly fearing the wrath of the blonde but needing to know. The need to know grew stronger and stronger as she watched the couple holding each other tightly causing Will to feel the hole in her heart that she wished someone would fill.

"Oh god, Irma!" Cornelia cried out as she jumped to her feet.

NOTES

I posted the first chapter of a story I'm thinking about writing on my website called 'Enter Night.' It's a W.i.t.c.h. and Night World fusion and if anyone wants to check it out please e-mail me about what you think of it. My website is posted as my homepage on my profile.

Aesop: I usually do try and have Megan look over my chappies before posting them but I do admit that there are times she doesn't have time to so I go ahead and post them. I really should wait though until she at least looks them over before I post them, thankies.


	17. Trapped Memories part 7

It seemed like it was taking an eternity to return to Earth but the small group finally stepped through the portal. Will wanted so much to rush into the restaurant but fought to control the worry as she pulled out the Heart and willed the girls back to normal.

"Will, can't we leave the portal open?" Caleb asked as Will held the glowing jewel out toward the blue spiral of energy floating in the air before the group.

"I'm sorry Caleb, too much can come through that portal and we can't risk it." Will sighed as she sealed the portal before slipping the jewel back around her neck.

"Come on, we need to hurry." Hay Lin said as she rushed into the Silver Dragon as the others followed closely behind as they walked calmly as they could through the kitchen saying hi to Hay Lin's parents as they cooked before heading upstairs to Hay Lin's room. They were all worried about their friend who was apparently attacked by the Seal of Phobos.

"About time you got back." Yan Lin gasped as they barged into the room. At first it looked normal until the weary woman sank to the ground next to the door leaning against the wall breathing hard.

"Grandma." Hay Lin cried going to the older woman's side, checking on the heavily sweating woman as she tried to catch her breath.

"What the heck is that thing?" Taranee asked moving near the floating talisman hovering above Irma's collapsed for.

"Don't touch it." Cornelia snapped dragging the dark skinned girl away just before an arc of dark energy passed through the area where Taranee was just moments before.

"What do we do?" Caleb asked with worry, eyeing the Seal with anger.

"Maybe the Heart can help." Will said pulling the Heart from around her neck but she didn't expect it to take flight by itself as it floated from her hand and circled the Seal which shot a dark bolt of lightning at it. The Heart deflected it as the Seal started circling to, every few moments attacking one another until finally the Heart caught the Seal with a pink burst of energy before moving to the stunned talisman. The Heart absorbed the Seal before floating back to Will's shaking outstretched hand. "Wh-What just happened?"

"I don't know." Yan Lin said standing up shakily, Hay Lin supporting her. "I never saw the Heart do that before."

"Irma?" Will said moving over to the brunette, kneeling down to her to find her breathing evenly in a deep sleep. At least she was alive but did the Seal have any negative effects on the girl?

"Put her in my bed, I'm going to take Grandma to her room so she can rest." Hay Lin said helping the older woman from the room.

"I'll move her." Caleb said moving to pick up the brunette and carried her to Hay Lin's bed as Will pulled the covers back letting the boy set her in it. Will adjusted the pillow and covered the brunette as she sat down on the edge of the bed looking worriedly at the semi pale face of Irma which was unusual for the water guardian.

"Do you think she'll be okay?" Taranee asks a little quietly.

"Of course she will, I've known her almost all my life and one thing I can say is she isn't a quitter. She won't give into something like this very easily." Cornelia said weakly though everyone could tell she was trying to be optimistic. But the worried look in her blue eyes told the others otherwise though no one would say it.

"This is my fault, isn't it?" Caleb sighed, "If I didn't sneak off to Meridian you wouldn't have had to save me and you would have been here to keep the Seal from attacking her."

"It isn't your fault," Cornelia sighed, the anger she was feeling for the boy evaporating as she hugged him, his arms wrapping around her. "I'll admit that I was angry earlier but…This isn't any ones fault, we couldn't have known his would happen."

"Caleb, can you help downstairs for awhile?" Hay Lin asked softly when she came back into the room, "My grandma needs some rest and it's getting busy."

"Sure." Caleb said, kissing Cornelia on the head before hurrying out the door.

Will looked back at the brunette and brushed a stray lock of hair from Irma's eyes and sighed in aggravation. Everyone was feeling the same thing though, who knew what was wrong with Irma but there wasn't anything they could do. They couldn't exactly take her to a hospital, what could they say? "Yes doctor, our friend was attacked by magical talisman from another dimension that is ruled by an evil prince who is looking for his missing sister on our world." Yeah, that would work out good and they would all end up in a mental ward somewhere.

"No." Irma whimpered drawing Will out of her thoughts to see Irma sitting up, looking at the girls in fear as tears were running down her cheeks.

"Irma." Will said reaching toward the brunette who brushed her hand away and jumped from the bed before bolting out the door.

"Irma!" Hay Lin and Taranee called giving chase as Will blinked trying to figure out what happened.

"We have to go find her." Will said getting up and heading to the door trying to ignore the hurt feeling she was having at Irma's reaction to her. Why did she even care that the girl reacted that way to her, Will wasn't entirely sure she could trust the girl being the daughter of a cop even though she wanted to. She felt like she had found someone special in the brunette, a friend who would never betray her.

"Will, maybe you should let Hay Lin and me handle this." Cornelia said trying to stop the redhead.

"I'm sorry Cornelia but she's my friend to, all of you and I can't just let one of you run off in whatever kind of pain she was feeling." Will said.

"At least promise me that you listen to her if she talks to you, don't reject her right off." Cornelia said causing Will to wonder what that was about before she finally nodded. AT that Cornelia hurried off to, "It might be faster if we split up."

WITCH

Irma couldn't face the girls, she woke up and when she saw the looks on the girls faces it reminded her too much of the dream she had caused by the Seal. She couldn't take hearing them rejecting her and fled ignoring the pleas from Alancia to stop.

It was starting to get dark though Irma didn't care, it only meant that there wouldn't be too many people in the park which was one of the two places she always went when this upset. Shell beach was kind of ruined for her when she was kidnapped and took there by that blue guy though he didn't really seem to bad. It was Frost that upset her, what he said to her had caused her several nightmares that she didn't even want to think about.

She saw a few kids with their parents playing on the swings so she continued back into the hiking trail and continued off the path into the trees until she couldn't take another step and collapsed on the ground curling up and sobbing.

WITCH

Will didn't know where Irma could have went, she didn't know her as well as Cornelia or Hay Lin which was what she was just beginning to realize. Cornelia knew it and took advantage of it to find her before Will but why? And what did she mean by making sure she listened to Irma and didn't reject her.

"Okay, I guess I can see why Cornelia would worry about that with the way she reacted when she found out about Irma's dad being a cop. She was actually grateful when she saw him again that he didn't mention their first meeting.

"Come to the park." A voice that sounded exactly like Will's echoed in her mind.

"Wh-Who are you?" Will asked nervously, looking around her.

"Never mind that, Irma is back in the hiking trail at the park. She needs you." The voice echoed again. Will didn't know what to think about the voice but if Irma really needed her she needed to be there. Forgetting about caution Will ran full tilt towards the park and past the few people leaving it as she entered it and dove straight back into the trail. Stopping after going halfway through she heard sniffling coming from off the path and decided to follow it.

There off the path Will found Irma curled up on the ground in a fetal position sobbing. Carefully so not to startle the brunette Will softly walked over to the shaking form and knelt down beside the other girl pulling her into Will's lap. Irma struggled a little at first before burying her face in Will's shoulder and started sobbing harder.

"Irma, what's wrong? What happened?" Will asked softly, stroking Irma's back.

"Y-You hate me." Irma cried, "I'm a freak and…and all of you hate me!"

"You aren't a freak, why would you even think that?" Will asked softly as Irma calmed down a little.

"I…I'm in love with one of my friends." Irma said softly.

"What's wrong with being in love?" Will asked, her stomach feeling like it was dropping but she wasn't sure why. She should be happy that the brunette was in love with someone. "I think that that's great."

"Will…you don't understand…" Irma sniffed.

"Well tell me then, what's wrong with being in love with some hottie? Is it Martin? I admit he's not the hottest guy around but he's really nice." Will said, stroking Irma's hair before she pulled back some looking at Will in mock horror. The redhead smiled a little seeing the hint of the mischievous Irma she knew.

"No, god no!" Irma said shaking her head and pretending to gag, "They have red hair…Is really, REALLY cute…Excellent taste in accessories…" Irma said before the sadness and loneliness returned to her eyes. "And is probably straighter than an arrow."

"What does being straight…as…an arrow?" Will asked, her eyes widening as she began putting the pieces together. Was Irma gay or at least bi? Then that meant one of her friends meant one of the guardians or Elyon and…Will was the only redhead. Oh god, Irma was talking about her!

Why should that matter though, Irma did make Will feel strange things that no person had ever made her feel before. For the first time she felt that maybe there was someone who could fill the void in her own heart but she wasn't gay, she liked guys. Then again, she liked girls to, she's never felt an attraction to anyone before…Before now. Looking into those hopeful and fearful eyes of Irma's, seeing the loneliness in them that Will often seen when looking into a mirror she realized that the reason she was so hurt over Irma being a cops daughter was because for the first time she was truly attracted to someone.

"I knew I shouldn't have said anything." Irma sobbed as she started to get up but Will grabbed her hand and pulled the girl towards her.

"Irma…You talk to much." Will whispered.

"Wh-" Was as far as Irma got before a pair of lips belonging to a certain redhead quieted her. Irma slowly closed her eyes hoping that if this was just another dream that she didn't wake up from it as she melted into Will's arms.

NOTES:

Another arc done and a little Will and Irma, hope everyone liked it. There are three different arcs that I'm considering doing next but I'm not sure which one yet but will know for sure soon. A bit of a spoiler but it will either have Phobos kidnapping someone from Earth to use as blackmail, another attempt from Vathek to get the Heart or Will's father finally making his appearance. Whichever way I go next I hope everyone will like it.


	18. Reunions part 1

"Oh wow," A very young Will cooed in awe at the simple ring with a small diamond in it. Despite it's simplicity it was one of the most beautiful things that Will had ever seen as the gem actually looked like it glowed with a blue hue when tuned in the light so much. "It's so pretty mommy."

"It was a special gift that my first love gave to me." Susan smiled at her little girl who was holding the ring carefully while admiring it.

"It almost looks like water in a way mommy when it shines blue." Will said looking up, "So daddy gave this to you?"

"No honey, I got this before I met your. He…He died not long after giving that to me." Susan said, "Why don't you keep it and someday you can give it to your daughter when you have one."

"Thankies mommy!" Will cried jumping up into Susan's arms.

WITCH

Will sat up quickly at her desk, startled at the loud bang of a ruler smacking the corner of her desk. Looking up she saw a very unhappy Missus Rudolph looking down at the redhead while shaking her head in annoyance.

"Perhaps if you can't keep awake in my class you could at the principal's office." The older woman said.

"I'm sorry, I'll stay awake." Will squeaked as a few of the students around her started snickering. She noticed that Irma was glaring at a few of them causing them to shut up.

"Just stay awake Miss Vandom." Missus Rudolph frowned before walking back toward the chalkboard but the bell rang causing the students to run out the room for lunch including Irma and Will. Everyone seemed happy to be out of math hell as Irma and Will headed toward the cafeteria.

"Hey Will…Are you sure about last night?" Irma asked a little shyly as she moved a little closer to Will so their shoulders were touching as they walked.

"Truthfully Irma…I can't say that I am. I'm a little scared, I've never felt anything for anyone before last night." Will sighed, "I want to give this a try though."

"How are we going to handle the others?" Irma asked as they entered the large cafeteria.

"I-I don't know, Irma. Like I said I'm a little scared." Will sighed.

"Will, I won't be mad if you don't want to be with me." Irma sad, a sad look washing through her eyes.

"Don't even thank that." Will said reaching out to squeeze Irma's hand reassuringly before releasing it as the caught a glimpse of Hay Lin, Taranee and Cornelia across the gym. Will let go of the brunette's hand before dropping their books off at the table.

"Hurry up and grab your food." Hay Lin urged as Will and Irma sat their books down.

"We're hurrying, We're hurrying." Irma laughed as Will and Irma headed over to get in line while idly wondering how they already got here and got there food so quickly.

"Irma, does anyone know about you?" Will asked softly.

"Anna, Cornelia and Hay Lin does." Irma said, "I don't know how Taranee is going to react."

"You do know that we're going to have to tell her." Will says smiling reassuringly at Irma.

"Sooner or later." Irma replies.

"I prefer sooner, I want to even tell my mom tonight." Will says thinking back to her dream and cursing herself for leaving the ring back in their apartment in Fadden Hills. They still have another week left in the month before their rent was due there so everything should still be in the apartment but to get the ring she'd have to risk running into her father again. Looking up at the redhead Will decided it would be worth it, she wanted that ring because it was special and it would mean more when she gave it to Irma.

"Are you sure, what if she gets mad?" Irma asks quietly yet with worry as the line moved a little more.

"She won't, besides we promised not to hide anything from each other. The only thing I haven't told her about is you know what." Will said, "Too many other people it would affect but it kind of hurts, I feel like I'm lying to her."

"It'll be okay." Irma says smiling at the redhead. The smile seemed to melt away Will's worries as she looked at the beautiful girl before her and the kind and loving expression on her face.

"Let's tell the girls at least when we go back out." Will smiles at Irma as they finally get up to the counter and get their lunch, beef noodles, mixed veggies, corn, a roll and a pudding cup.

They walk back out to the table, Will smiling gently at the brunette when she slows a little. The two finally get to the table sitting next to each other. Will takes her pudding cup and puts it on Irma's tray making the brunette smile a little.

"So how was math class today?" Taranee asked smirking a little.

"Yuck it up." Will sighed shaking her head, "How did you even find out about that anyways?" 

"The Grumpers." Cornelia said smiling at the two girls with a soft, knowing smile.

"Guys, I have some news I want to tell you." Will says smiling over to the brunette encouragingly. "I found someone I really like and we are going to be dating."

"Wow, that's awesome." Taranee said happily as hay Lin frowned a little in disappointment at Irma until Irma mouthed 'It's me' to the Asian girl causing Hay Lin to grin widely. "So who are they, what are they like?"

"Well…" Will says tapping her chin, "They're very smart and has a wicked sense of humor and did I mention she is drop dead sexy?"

"She?" Taranee asked, her mouth hanging open.

"She…Irma in fact." Will says smiling brightly, Irma blushing a little but with a happy expression on her face.

"It's about damn time you two stopped dancing around each other." Cornelia smirked as Elyon joined them at the table. "Guess what, Elyon."

"What?" Elyon asked looking over to Irma who now had a nervous expression as Taranee seemed a little out of it.

"Will and Irma are in love." Cornelia smiled.

"That's so sweet." Elyon said sincerely causing Irma to smile in relief before Elyon's eyes started to twinkle in mischief. "Hey, wait, if you are a lesbian does that mean that Matt is free?"

"Yeah, I guess." Will said blushing at the statement as Elyon pumped her fist in the air in excitement.

"YES!" Elyon cried out as Cornelia and Hay Lin laughed.

"Guys…I've never…I mean not even in my wildest dreams did I ever think about this." Taranee sighs, "But if you two really care for each other I'll do anything I can to support you."

"Thanks Taranee." Will and Irma said in unison before giggling a little.

"No problem but does this mean that you two actually…Well in gym when we're in the showers…" Taranee said blushing a little.

"This is the first time I've ever felt this way about anyone." Will said, "I've never really been attracted to someone before. I mean I knew that someone was good looking but they just never interested me like that until Irma."

"Well…" Irma blushed, "I never really peaked at anyone before except one person."

"And who was that?" Cornelia asked while raising an eyebrow.

"Well…I kind of peaked at Will…" Irma said causing both redhead and herself to blush deeply. "I can honestly say I know that Will is a natural redhead."

"And how would you…know…you pervert!" Elyon started to ask before bursting out in good natured giggles as she realized what Irma was talking about.

"My pervert." Will said taking Irma's hand under the table.

WITCH

"Will, I need you to stay after class again." Dean said as the final bell rang excusing the students.

"Is this about school or personal?" Will asked.

"It's personal." Dean sighed, shaking his head.

"Then it'll have to wait Mister C." Will sighed, "I'm in a major hurry and I need to get going. I'll see you later."

"Will." Dean tried again but Will hurried from the classroom before he could say anything else. He ran his hand through his hair before sitting down at his desk pulling out an old VHS cassette from his briefcase. It was the proof of what he had to say but he wanted to talk to Will about it first but if she wouldn't listen he'd go to Susan. He didn't want what happened to his aunt happen the young girl who for some reason was capturing his heart. He never really thought about children, never really wanted them but now he met the woman of his dreams and her daughter was taking up so much space in his heart to as he started thinking her as his own daughter. He knew he didn't have any right to think of the two that way but he felt the three belonged together as a family and wanted to be there for them. It would destroy him if anything happened to either one.

WITCH

"Irma, I'm really sorry but I have something really important to do tonight." Will said sadly as she closed her locker which was luckily right next to Irma's.

"Doing what?" Irma asked a little sad.

"There's something I have to go back to Fadden Hills to get." Will sighed telling Irma the address. "I…We had to leave so quick we didn't have a chance to pack much. There's also reasons why we can't go back but I can if I change and be back before my mom realizes I was gone."

"Let me come with you." Irma said, almost pleaded. At first Will wanted to say no but the look in the brunette's eyes, the quivering puppy dog pout caused Irma to cave in. It wasn't fair that she was susceptible to such an attack from such a cute girl.

"Ok but if I say we need to run don't ask any questions, just run." Will sighs before closing her locker as the two walk off not even noticing the third new student lately standing there with a smirk on his face. He was a large bulky student with no hair and a piercing gaze. Closing his locker he followed out of the school.

WITCH

"Cedric." Phobos said, his voice booming throughout the chamber, "Any news on my sister?"

"No." Cedric stated simply favoring his right leg and side as he was still sore after the injuries the earth guardian had caused him.

"We need to find her and I have a feeling the guardians know who she is." Phobos said angrily. "I have a plan to squeeze the information out of them. Return to Earth and bring me the parents of one of the guardian, we will exchange them for the Heart of Candracar and the information on who my sister is."

"Of course my lord." Cedric said bowing.

"Cedric, I gave your sister powers of transformation." Phobos said causing Cedric to look up in shock and anger, "Take her with you."

"Yes my lord." Cedric said as Miranda walks out of the shadows toward her older brother. Cedric wouldn't voice it but he was beyond pissed at his Prince. He was serving Phobos for taking both his sister and himself in after Cedric was forced to kill their parents after they hurt the two for the last time. Cedric owed Phobos but this was pushing it.

NOTES

The new arc has begun and there will be a few dark parts in it but nothing I don't think requires a M rating but if someone believes it should be bumped to a M rating let me know.

Philip Gipson: Hopefully this chappie makes your day as it is the start of Phobos kidnapping someone from Earth who I already have in mind and it probably is already transparent to who. I try to update as quickly as possible and I agree completely, Witch so totally rules.


	19. Reunions part 2

"So you're sure no one can see us?" Irma asked as they flew through the sky as she watched Will with a little worry. The redhead looked like she was straining very difficultly as the zipped by a small flock of birds.

"I-I'm sure." Will said a little hoarsely, "I figured out how…to create…A glamour zone last night before…my mom got home."

"That's so awesome!" Irma cried out happily spinning once while stretching out her arms enjoying the wind whipping through her hair. They were just entering Fadden Hills according to a sign below them and Irma couldn't believe how big it was but more importantly everything looked so expensive. All the houses and apartments that looked more like some kind of high cost condos was a little shocking even knowing that mainly rich people lived there. "You lived here?"

"Yeah." Will sighed as she started to descend into an alley by a nice apartment building in a section of town that while not looking as new and expensive as the rest it still looked like it cost some money to be able to rent there. "Back before…Well, my dad is a lawyer and made a lot of money."

"Will about your dad." Irma started as they landed and Will pulled the heart out changing them back. Irma could tell that the redhead was nervous and if what Alancia had shown Irma was true then there was no wonder.

"Please Irma, I'm not really ready to talk about him" Will said trying to avoid Irma's eyes as she led them through the front entrance into the apartment building.

"Nice place." Irma said whistling a little at how nice the place looked.

"Looks can be deceiving." Will sighed, "This place is a dump, Irma. My mom and me had to move here while she went to school, it was the only place we could afford at the time and it was just barely."

"I'm sorry Will." Irma said softly taking Will's hand as the walked, squeezing it lovingly.

"It's not your fault." Will said smiling, squeezing the brunette's hand back. "Come on, it's on the top floor."

"Wow, I bet that was pretty cool." Irma said smiling.

"Not really, the roof leaked all over the place and they kept refusing to fix it." Will sighed as they stopped by a single elevator. Will pushed the button and thankfully the door opened as it was already on the bottom floor. "Let's go."

"Tenth floor?" Irma asked looking at the panel.

"Yeah." Will nodded as Irma pushed the button while the doors slid closed. With a violent jerk scaring Irma a little the elevator started moving upwards jerkily.

"I can see what you meant now." Irma said with a little fear as they made their way up while Irma was hoping they could use the stairs when they go back down.

"Keep quiet until we get out of here." Will said just before the door slid open as Will peeked out of the elevator checking both ways before pulling Irma behind her hurrying down the hall until they reached a door with 'Vandom' in stickers under the peephole. Will pulled a key from her pocket and unlocked the deadbolt before pulling Irma inside.

"You know if you wanted to get me alone we could have went somewhere closer to home." Irma said smiling playfully at Will trying to make the redhead cheer up a little, or at least get a rise from her. Will seemed so serious right now and even though Irma was sure she knew the truth why.

"Irma, now isn't the time for that." Will said, "I just want to grab what I came after and get out of here. Wait here for a minute."

Irma watched as Will walked into another room and after a couple minutes the redhead came back with a small bag full of stuff. A grinning Will was a relief to Irma as the girl ran her fingers through her red locks.

"Get it?" Irma asked.

"Yeah, and a few other things while we're here." Will said holding up the bag, "I wish we had a little more time before we had to run."

"Will, I know about your dad." Irma blurted out, covering her mouth not believing she said it that way. She wanted to talk to Will about what she had seen in her dreamscape with Alancia but she didn't want to say it like that.

"Irma…My dad isn't dead." Will sighed.

"No shit, bitch." A man growled from the doorway, "I knew if I kept checking back I'd find you. Now where is your worthless mother?"

"How dare you talk to her like that?" Irma growled as a flash of light in the center of the room drew the three's attention to a blue man who just appeared.

"Give me the heart Guardian." Vathek growled, "I don't want any trouble but I won't leave without it today."

"What the hell are you?" Tony demanded pointing at Vathek, wavering a little as if he was drunk. "Another of the whore's clients?"

"That's it." Irma growled stomping towards Tony intent on shoving her fist down his throat but was instead launched backwards into Will's arms from a backhanded slap from Tony.

"How dare you?" Vathek growled stomping over towards Tony.

"This little piece of trash and her mother BELONG to me." Tony growled, "Take your freak ass and leave while you still can."

"Make me." Vathek sneered as Will lowered Irma to the ground cradling her head looking sadly at the already nasty looking bruise that was forming.

"I'm so sorry, Irma." Will sniffed sadly brushing the brunette's hair.

"Gladly." Tony sneered pulling a gun from the waist of his slacks just as Vathek tackled him knocking the gun across the floor.

"I'll take care of you first then get the Heart." Vathek said punching Tony.

"Irma, come on." Will whimpered cradling the brunette's head in her lap, lightly slapping her cheek trying to get Irma to wake up.

"God, what hit me?" Irma groaned looking up at Will groggily, "Hey beautiful."

"Hey yourself," Will said smiling, wiping her tears away, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, damn he hits hard." Irma said gingerly touching her cheek.

"Come on, we have to get out of here." Will said helping Irma to her feet.

"What about them?" Irma asks looking over at the two fighting men.

"I think I'll give those two a little alone time." Will says with a small smirk dragging Irma out the door and down the hall past the elevator.

"Will, there was the elevator." Irma said.

"That's not where we are going." Will replies still holding Irma's hand as the burst through a door into a stairwell and hitting the steps going up and out the next door onto the roof. Will pulled out the Heart when they saw no one was on the roof and changed them into their guardian forms. "Let's get back home."

Irma nodded glad that Will must have forgot what Irma had said.

"Irma, I'm sorry that you got in the middle of things." Will said looking over and smiling as the two flew side by side, "Looks like you're your cheek healed, I think the Heart did it."

"Your right!" Irma exclaimed touching her cheek noticing that all the pain was gone.

WITCH

Dean was looking across the street at the address where Susan and Will lived and sighed, he wanted to go talk to Susan about Will but he didn't want the redhead to hate him. Then again, if he didn't tell Susan she would be pissed at him when she did find out. And yet if he did nothing then Will would possibly die just like Cassidy.

"Damn it!" Dean swore hitting the steering wheel in an uncharacteristic display of anger. He didn't exactly have any real choices in what to do but he would be damned if he did nothing and let Will die.

Putting the SUV into gear he pulled away from the curb to look through the city and see if he could find Will. Maybe drive by the Silver Dragon and then the different girls' houses. If he didn't find her before it started getting dark he would go talk to Susan but he owed it to the redhead to at least give her one more chance to talk about it.

After driving for awhile he spotted a mop of red hair walking with a brunette going onto the Lair's front porch. He recognized the two as Will and Irma which caused him to sigh in relief as he pulled up to the curb waiting for Will when he received a shock just as much as the one about Will being a guardian and worse yet he suspected her of being the keeper of the Heart.

The two was holding hands facing each other while looking into each other's eyes as the talked. Suddenly Irma leaned forward and kissed Will on the lips and by the looks of it, it was far from being an innocent kiss. Will leaned into Irma as the two wrapped their arms around each other melting into each other.

"What the hell is the meaning of this?" Tom asked flinging the door open causing the two girls to jump apart.

"Time for damage control." Dean sighed shutting the SUV off and climbed out of the vehicle hurrying over to the three. He knew that Tom was a good man and for the most part never discriminated against anyone but he was a little uncomfortable around anything homosexual.

"Dad, it isn't what it looks like." Irma said blushing brightly.

"I can't believe I tried to reach out to you, you piece of trash!" Tom snarled, "How dare you throw yourself at my daughter like this?"

"Dad!" Irma snapped earning a glare from the officer.

"I'm not trash!" Will choked out, tears streaming down her face making the officer's angry expression soften a little.

"It's ok, Will." Dean said softly standing behind Will putting a hand on her shoulder squeezing reassuringly.

"I'm not." Will cried though it almost sounded like she was trying to convince herself more than anyone else.

"I can't believe you, dad." Irma said walking out to the redhead trying to pull into a hug though she pulled away from the brunette. "Will, please don't."

"Irma, go to your room." Tom said as he fidgeted under the intense glare from Dean who was holding a shaking redhead in his arms after she backed into him trying to get away from Irma.

"I'm the one who kissed her!" Irma cried spinning around, "I LOVE her, dad. I'm gay, okay? A lezzie, a carpet muncher, a…"

"That's enough!" Tom snapped turning bright red.

"Dad, I'm sorry if I disappointed you but I can't change who I am," Irma cried looking back over her shoulder at Will who had buried herself in Dean's arms crying heavily now while repeating over and over that she wasn't trash. "Or who I love."

"Irma…" Tom said running his hand through his hair as he sat down on the steps. Irma…You don't know what you are getting into."

"Dad, please don't hate me…I love Will, I can't help that but I love you too and…I don't think I can stand to lose either one of you." Irma sniffed drawing Tom's attention. After seeing the tears in his daughter's eyes he surged up from his seat startling Irma as he drew her into a tight hug. "Need…to...breath"

"Sorry." Tom said sheepishly pushing Irma out to arms length and wiping her tears away, "I…I don't know…I guess if this is what you truly want I'll support you both."

"I was so stupid to actually start thinking I could trust a cop." Will cried as Dean kept stroking her hair.

"It's okay honey." Dean said letting Will cry into his shirt.

"Will…I'm sorry." Tom said starting to move over to Will but stopped when Dean shook his head and glared at Tom.

"I'm taking Will home Irma, she'll see you in school tomorrow." Dean said leading Will to the SUV and helped her in the passenger side. After he closed the door Irma came running down carrying a bag.

"This is Will's." Irma said rubbing her eyes.

"She'll be okay." Dean said taking the bag and brushing some hair out of Irma's eyes.

"You mean that you don't care that…" Irma said but was cut off by Dean's response.

"Of course I don't mind, in fact I'm happy for the two of you." Dean said before his expression grew serious, "Only thing I don't like is the extra curricular stuff the five of you do with that damned jewel."

"Wh-What are you talking about?" Irma asked as she paled.

"I know and we will talk later, for now I want to get Will home." Dean said, "Irma, don't push her and just try to be there for her. She's been through some bad stuff."

"I-I know." Irma sighed looking down, "I'll do whatever I can to help her."

"I know," Dean smiled, "Just be there for her."

NOTES

Riot: LOL, truthfully I do especially lately. Like last night I was so close to being done with this chapter so I could read some and ended nodding off. When I woke up I went ahead and went to bed so sorries I didn't get it posted sooner. Thankies, I wanted to show the poverty Phobos was causing and I actually used the idea from an episode of W.i.t.c.h. on how they got the cloaks. Thankies, Alancia was actually a last minute idea though I was planning on the Seal doing that. It was going to be much rougher on Irma when she woke up but I thought this way worked a lot better. Will most likely be very upset when they actually get the chance to talk more about it. Caleb and Cornelia did have the dreamlink so their relationship might develop a little quicker than Irma and Will's.

Philip Gipson: I'll try not to change the rating but if too many people complain about it I might have to so I don't get into trouble with fanfiction. Net. Like I said I never heard of that show but I'm trying to find out a little about it, thankies. Enter Night will be a whole other universe than Never A Normal Life and I'll probably be posting two more story ideas soon when I get them typed out. (They are written on paper.) The two new ones will have the basic premise but the world where Will is sent to will be a little different. One is where the Will of the world she is sent to was thought to have ran away two years earlier though she was actually killed. The other is where the Will of the world actually turned on them and went with Phobos believing he loved her and he killed her and took the Heart. The difference in the two stories is how the girls and families feel about Will when they see her show up. The first will be happy that she is a live while the second will be shocked and angry after what she did.


	20. Reunions part 3

"Will," Dean said as he drove toward the redhead's home, "I hate to bring this up right now with what just happened."

"What?" Will asked a little sharper than she meant as she looked over toward him and forgetting watching out the mirror. She had screwed everything up again and probably hurt Irma's family like she did her own. She knew her father was a bastard but he was once a good man to both Susan and Will but he slowly turned into the monster he was and though she knew why he became a monster partly know she knew it was partly her fault. She remembered all the fights they started having just before the man first started turning violent and she remembered that they were normally based around her.

"Will, Tom didn't mean what he said and I'm sure he's really sorry." Dean said sadly at seeing the devastated face on the redhead.

"Stuff the shit and just say what you want." Will snapped while rubbing the tears from her eyes. She watched nervously as he locked the doors with the power locks and turned on the safety so only his controls would unlock them.

"Will, I know about you being a guardian." Dean sighed as he pulled to the side of the road. "I want you to stop it, it's too dangerous."

"How would you know?" Will snapped.

"Because my aunt and her friend was killed being guardians. I don't want to see that happen to you." Dean said, smiling sadly at Will's shocked expression.

"Why…Why would you care about me?" Will asked in shock.

"Because Will, I…" Dean leaned his forehead on the steering wheel and sighed loudly. "I love you Will, you mean a lot to me. So does your mother, I…If you believe in soulmates I think she's mine and…I know you don't need another father or even want one after…But I'd like to be there for you as one."

"Mister C, you don't know me…Know how much of a screw up I am." Will sniffed drawing the mans attention.

"You are not a screw up." Dean said reaching across the console and lovingly brush the hair from her face and caress her cheek. "God, to even do some of what I'm sure you done as a guardian proves that but…I don't want to see you hurt."

"I can't give it up, too many people are depending on us." Will sighed.

"Will, what good are you going to do if your dead?" Dean asked, letting his hand fall away.

"I won't give up on those people." Will sighed before whispering, "Besides, if I'm not a guardian what worth am I?"

"You're worth a lot to me and you mother." Dean sighed.

"Shows how smart you are." Will said without any harshness, the small smile showing that she was joking but the sad look in her eyes showed that she was still upset. As much as he wanted to sit and debate this all night he had to get her home. He didn't want to do this but he decided it was best to tell Susan about Will's after school activities.

"If loving Susan and you means I'm stupid then I'm the dumbest person on the planet." Dean said smiling as he pulled away from the curb and headed to Will's home. A home he hoped he could get them out of soon if what he was planning worked out. Question was would Susan and Will go for it?

WITCH

"Dad?" Irma asked a little nervously as she walked into the living room where her father was leaning back in the couch watching a ballgame on television. He picked up the remote muting the volume as he looked up with a strange expression.

"What is it honey?" Tom asked patting the spot next to him on the couch. Irma reluctantly moved to sit down next to him but she was a little scared of what he was going to say but she needed to talk to him about what happened. True she would have preferred her father learning about her tendencies in another way but the cat was out of the bag with devastating circumstances. She had spent the last half hour on the phone trying to get a hold of Will's cell phone and when she called Will's home Susan had said the redhead hadn't made it home yet.

"Dad…I'm sorry if…" Irma said trying to voice her thoughts as tears began welling up unbidden.

"Honey, I guess you pretty much know I am a little uncomfortable with the thought." Tom said as Irma hugged herself tears escaping down her cheeks. "But that doesn't mean I don't love you. I will support you no matter what but it will take me a little time to get used to it."

"When you though Will was the one who started it…" Irma cried as Tom pulled her into an embrace.

"I over reacted." Tom sighed, "I messed up, I'm not perfect Irma, no one is. I will apologize to her later but…I don't know how she'll take it."

"Dad…Can you look up something on your computer?" Irma asked pulling away.

"I guess." Tom said a little confused as Irma wiped the tears away from her face.

"Can you looked up Vandom in Fadden Hills." Irma asked.

"Why?" Tom asked.

"I want to know what it says about Tony Vandom." Irma sighs wondering if she was making a mistake butting into Will's past but decided to push on. Maybe if she could get her father to see what happened to the redhead and get said redhead to see Tom as a good cop trying to help her it might actually help things.

Irma followed her father up to his room where he sat at his desk where the computer was on while she stood watching over his shoulder. He logged into the internet then onto the servers at police headquarters and queried the Fadden Hill's servers. When the search fields came up he entered in Vandom and hit search.

"This doesn't make sense." Tom said shaking his head, "It shows Tony being picked up numerous times for some very serious charges but was released without anything being pursued."

Irma watched as an angry expression grew on her father's face. She had never seen the man get this angry before and it was scaring her a little. "D-Dad…Are you ok?"

"This piece of shit beat the hell out of his wife and daughter and even had a restraining order filed against him and these people didn't do anything to him." Tom growled slamming his fist down on the table, "This isn't right, I'll make sure they get investigated for this."

"Dad…" Irma said touching the mans shoulder causing him to tense momentarily before relaxing.

"Honey…Why did you want me to look this up?" Tom asked putting his hand on his daughters where she was resting it on his shoulder giving it a squeeze.

"Read the daughter's name dad." Irma sighed.

"Vandom, Wilhelmina…So…Your not saying this is Will?" Tom asked looking over his shoulder at his daughters pale face as she nodded, biting her lip in worry.

"Son of a bitch." Tom growled, realization flashing in his eyes, "This is why she doesn't trust cops?"

"I think so but I never knew it was this bad." Irma sighed.

WITCH

"Your coming in?" Will asked in shock as Dean walked up to her door with her, a nervous look in her face as she kept looking at the tape in the man's hands. For the first time she was regretting the new DVD player they had as it was a dual deck with one of them being a VHS deck.

"I need to talk to your mother, Will." Dean said with sorrow in his voice. She knew what he was going to do and strangely enough she truly understood and accepted it. She knew he was really sorry for it but it didn't help a small sense of anger seeping into her thoughts.

"Will, I was getting so worried about you." Susan sighed as Dean handed the woman the bag that he was carrying for Will. A angry look crossed the woman's face when she noticed what was in it, both Will and her own diary was in it as well as a few keepsakes which meant Will risked going back to Fadden Hills. But how did she get there and back so quickly unless she skipped school. "Will, how did you get this? You didn't skip school did you? And why on earth did you risk going back to Fadden Hills."

"She didn't skip Susan but I need to talk to you about some really important things about some stuff she's been doing." Dean said causing the older woman to sigh though it wasn't anger or disappointment. Dean could understand the woman's feelings, she had told him what happened back in Fadden Hills but he didn't care about that as he'd risk his life for these two women.

"Can I come in?" Dean asked showing the woman the tape.

"What's this?" Susan asked eyeing the tape.

"Its best that you see it first so you understand." Dean sighed as Susan moved out of the way letting her daughter and Dean to come inside. A few minutes later Susan was sitting in the middle of the couch next to Will as Dean put the tape in the player and stood away from the Television as a beautiful red haired woman came on screen though it was clear it was an amateur taping it as it wouldn't stay steady. The camera zoomed out to show four other woman with the first. A Chinese girl, a dark skinned girl, a blonde girl and a woman with long dark hair holding a pink like jewel that looked familiar. Looking over to Will Susan remembered where she seen it, Yan Lin had given Will one that looked just like it.

"I don't think they realized I'm here yet but I want proof that something has taken control of my Auntie." A young boy's voice said, whispering but it was oddly familiar. Looking up to Dean Susan was surprised to see him nod.

"That's me taping it and I was wrong about something taking over my Aunt, the redhead is my aunt Cassidy." Dean said.

The girl with the long dark hair was standing oddly close to Cassidy, taking each others hands.

"Are you ready for this love?" The dark haired woman asked gently.

"As ready as I'm ever going to be." Cassidy said.

"Should we leave you two lovebirds alone for a few minutes before we head off?" The dark skinned woman asked in annoyance.

"Kadma, don't tease the lovebirds." The Asian said with a silly grin, "Just because they're getting laid doesn't mean you have to get jealous."

"Yeah, Kadma, why don't you have a little fun with that boy of yours? Rock his world, girl." The blonde said at the obvious uneasiness of the dark skinned woman.

"For your information you hussies, I am saving myself for marriage." Kadma snapped, her cheeks coloring a little.

"Oh please, K, don't give us that." Cassidy joked, "We know you better than that. If your having such a hard time with that boy of yours you could always join the dark side. There's always room in Nerissies and my bed if you need."

"C-Cassidy!" Kadma squeaked in embarrassment before realizing the redhead was messing with her.

"Come on, ladies, enough playing around." Nerissa said thrusting out the jewel," Guardians UNITE!"

In a brilliant flash of light that kept the viewers from seeing anything the girls slowly came back on screen though the y looked a little different. They had on strange clothes and their bodies looked a little more mature as well as the addition to fairy like wings.

"DEAN!" Cassidy shrieked looking at the camera.

"Uh-oh." Dean squeaked turning to run before the picture quit.

"What was that, some kind of special effects movie?" Susan asked after licking her lips a little wetting them. This was insane, it looked so real, she couldn't make out any CG or anything in it and if anyone could see the difference in CG and real film it was her and she was a hundred percent positive there was none which meant it had to be some other kind of special effects unless…It was…Real. It couldn't be though, could it.

"I'm sorry Susan, it was completely real." Dean sighed explaining about the guardians as Cassidy had explained to him. They were protectors of the infinite dimensions sent on missions to help people though it was too dangerous for teenage girls or boys. It was insane that any creature would send children to face these threats instead of facing it themselves. After all if they had the power to make the Heart and Guardians surely they had the power to face these threats themselves.

"Will, is that thing really…That thing?" Susan asked pointing to the tape Dean was now holding.

"Yeah." Will sighed.

"Give it to me." Susan said.

"Mom?" Will asked in shock holding the Heart protectively.

"Will, I won't let you put yourself in any more danger than I have." Susan sighed, "Please just give me that thing, they can find someone else."

"Mom, you didn't see Meridian…All those people suffering under Phobos…I can't sit by and do nothing." Will sighed.

"Will, I understand you want to help but…I can't let you put yourself in harms way like that. It's stupid that these people expect you to do it while they sit on their asses." Susan sighed, "Please just give me that thing before you get hurt."

"NO!" Will jumped up, tears streaming, "W-Without this I'm noting…I don't want to be nothing again!"

"Will." Susan sighed walking toward Will but the redhead spun around and ran out the door into the night.

NOTES

Wow, 100 reviews thank you all soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo much!!! I love you all!!!

Philip Gipson: Thankies, and I have to thank Guardian's Light for the help on that part and XV-Dragon for the idea behind this arc and LordofDarkness2099 for his help. Thank you both so much. I think Tom will be okay with Irma's decision but what happens with Will and them is yet to be seen. I don't blame you for liking that song, I love it personally and have the extended full version of the song as the background music on my homepage. I will be trying to make the music video this coming week and I hope it turns out.

Shawn: Thankies, hope you liked this update.


	21. Reunions part 4

"Brother…Why are we doing this?" Miranda asked as she followed closely by her elder bother through the darkening streets of Heatherfield. She had to admit that she loved the city so far despite it's many levels of strange.

"Because Miranda, we don't have a choice." Cedric sighed, he didn't like this idea either but he was loyal to his prince. Sometimes though he wondered why he bothered but then the prince would show the kindness that first made the shapeshifter to admire him. The only thing was the only people the prince showed that kindness to was the people closest to him which made Cedric believe in him. Phobos wanted what was rightfully his, the powers the princess had that by birthright should have been Phobos's but somehow the girl had received them

Phobos was more than happy to help his prince gain those powers and screw the rest of the kingdom. He hated them for their stupidity, Phobos could do so much to help them if they would only give up this stupid rebellion of theirs. It was a waste of time, the only reason Phobos was punishing the people like he was because of their stunts that they kept pulling and the reason the kept pulling them was because of the punishments. It was enough to give him a headache.

Then came the guardians, they had no idea what was going on and did what they were told. They didn't belong in Meridian putting their collective noses where they didn't belong. They were foolish children and while he hated going against children he hated them even more for keeping the war going.

"I still don't like it but I guess we don't have a choice." Miranda sighed as a dark haired woman got out of a vehicle with a man with lighter colored hair. Cedric recognized the man as a teacher from the school where the guardians attenended.

"Hi, do you know Will?" The woman asked, a sad look on her face. It almost looked like she had been crying.

"Red head about yay high?" Cedric asked holding out his hand about the same height of Miranda. "Are you her mother?"

"Yes, have you seen her?" The woman asked quickly.

"Ye s…Actually I know where she is." Cedric said smiling at the woman as Miranda got a worried look in her eyes. "If you want I can take you to her."

"Thank you." The woman said with relief though Cedric could see protectiveness in the man's eyes as he moved closer to the woman.

"I don't know if we can trust him, Susan." Dean whispered in the woman's ear while giving Cedric an odd look.

"If he knows where Will is then I have to go." Susan sniffed.

"Then I'm going to." Dean said sternly.

"Then if you two are ready lets get going." Cedric said turning on his heel heading back toward the park where the portal was. This was too easy but he wasn't going to look a gift horse in the mouth. They were soon in the park nearing the portal when Dean started acting worried.

"Where is Will?" Dean asked as Cedric turned around to face him with a cold smirk.

"You will find out soon enough." Cedric growled as he changed to his monstrous form towering over the two humans.

"What are you?" Susan gasped as Dean stood protectively in front of Susan but Miranda also changed and wrapped Susan's upper body in webbing as she pulled the woman with a strand of it toward her. Dean started to jump toward the two to save Susan but was knocked out by Cedric.

"DEAN!" Susan screamed struggling to get away.

"Pastling, I know you are there, I can smell you." Cedric grinned, "Tell the keeper of the Heart that we have her parents in Meridian. If she wants them back then come alone with the Heart and she can have her parents back unharmed."

"Cedric, what's going on?" Vathek asked joining the group just before they went through. Miranda covered Susan's mouth with webbing quieting the woman's protests.

"Phobos requests the presence of these humans." Cedric growls picking up Dean by the back of his jacket. He noticed the bandage on the side of his friend's face and asked about it.

"I got into a fight with a human with a gun, bastard shot at me and for the most part missed." Vathek grumbled as Cedric shook his head. "I beat the fool unconscious after that and seeing him hurt the Water Guardian."

"Vathek, your honor and strange obsession with that girl is going to get you in trouble." Cedric grumbled, "I know you don't have feelings for her but you need to stop seeing Aria's face every time you see the water brat."

"Whatever, I'll escort you back." Vathek grumbled in annoyance.

WITCH

"Will!" Blunk's voice called out pulling Will from her thoughts as she walked tiredly toward the park. She couldn't go home, she couldn't give up the Heart and become a nothing again. She couldn't go to Irma's and talk to her she already hurt her family enough. The other three girls were possibilities but she didn't know if she could talk to them about her past. She still wasn't sure what to think about Irma knowing whatever the girl did know and in a way it angered the redhead while at the same time reliving her of the fears of Irma abandoning her when finding out.

"Blunk, what's wrong?" Will asked looking up to see the rank smelling creature with a decent heart if a strange one.

"Snake man kidnapped your mother and teacher friend, says come alone to Meridian." Blunk panted.

"Do not tell anyone." Will sighed, "I've caused them enough trouble as it is. Where is the portal?"

"In the park." Blunk said after regaining his breath as Will stormed past ignoring his protests in search of the portal.

WITCH

"You should be proud of your daughter." The blue man called Vathek said with a gentle smile to Susan who was being forced to walk with the group through the streets of the village just south of what could only be the castle they kept saying they was going to. She was scared to death but Miranda had finally removed the webbing from her mouth thanks to Vathek because she couldn't breathe. Cedric was carrying the unconscious form of Dean in a fireman's carry.

"What are you going to do to us? To my daughter?" Susan asked trying to be strong as she kept looking around seeing the obvious struggle the villagers was going through to survive. Many of the buildings were close to collapsing as the people looked half starved to death. Even the children who ran playing in the streets looked starved though many looked better off than the adults. Some looked like they were normal humans while the others looked like monsters to her but they seemed to be just trying to have a life like anyone else.

"I won't let you be hurt if that is what you are worried about." Vathek said smiling gently. Susan wanted to hit him for saying that while being one of their captors but the look in his eyes seemed out of place with his actions. Despite having a hard quality to them there was also a gentleness and honesty to them. "All we want is the Heart so we can stop this foolish war, its gone on long enough. I hate having to stoop to such methods but it is our Prince's wish, he wants to end this violent cycle just as much as everyone else."

"It's about time you got back." Another blue man with blonde hair snarled looking lustfully at Susan which was unsettling her. He was riding on top a strange lizard like creature surrounded by what looked like soldiers with tannish skin.

"Hands off, Frost, she's under my protection." Vathek growled at the other man who adopted a false innocent look.

"I'd never dream of hurting her." Frost said with a sneer, "She looks so delicate and fragile, I wouldn't want to break her before hearing her exquisite screams."

"Bastard." Vathek growled preparing to launch at the other male before the snake like man growled at them.

"Cut this out! Frost, I gave them my word no harm would come to them as long as the keeper brought me the Heart so back off." Cedric snarled, "Vathek, don't let Frost work you up, he's not worth it."

"Whatever." Frost grunted as the soldiers surrounded the group as an escort. They were finally reaching the outskirts of town before lightning started crashing down around them causing the group to scatter. Cedric actually dropped Dean as he reared back but the shock of the drop seemed to wake up the man.

"Get the hell away from my mother!" Will growled as she hovered above the group. Susan's jaw dropped as she looked at her daughter, she looked different but she knew in her heart that the red haired fairy like creature was Will. The girl had a beauty to her that Susan always knew she had but the confidence she was showing brought it forth.

"Guardian." Frost sneered drawing a sword as he dismounted aiming the point at Susan making her whimper in fear, "The Heart for your mother's life."

NOTES

Sorry for the shortness of the chappie but depending on what I get into the next one it may be longer than normal.

Philip Gipson: They both really care for her, even in the cartoon and comic worlds as I believe any mother should and only wants what's best for her. I'm glad I seem to be portraying this decently. I'll check out Thundercats DVDs, and honestly I can't think of one. I was going to say Ron from Kim Possible did but after thinking about it I don't think he did on the cartoon, I think it was a fanfiction I read.


	22. Reunions part 5

"I swear Frost if you hurt one hair on her head!" Will snarled, electricity arcing across her body as her hair whipped about in the wind her power was creating due to her rage. How dare they touch her!

"Get away from her!" Dean snarled punching Frost in the chin causing the blue man snap his head to the side before turning back to look at him in anger as Dean nursed his injured hand but glared at Frost.

"Dean." Susan cried in fear as Frost raised his sword ready to plunge it into the teacher's chest but was stopped by Cedric who held his hand back.

"Do you honestly think she will willingly give us the Heart if we kill her father?" Cedric hissed. Dean wasn't her father though Will thought angrily before realizing she wished he was. He was risking his life for her mother as there was no doubt the much larger blue skinned man could kill Dean in a moments notice. He really loved Susan, that was obvious as he stood defiantly in front of Susan protecting her despite the fear in his eyes.

"Enough." Will whimpered as she lightly landed on the ground as several rebels started arriving on the scene. They obviously was attracted by the noise but Will was worried that they would complicate things greatly. Closing her eyes Will willed herself back to normal. "If you swear to not harm them I'll give it to you."

"Good choice child." Frost sneered as Will handed the Heart to him. She cried out in surprise as he grabbed her wrist and spun her around pulling her roughly to him. He held his arms around her stomach and her back pressed into his as she struggled. He held the Heart tightly in his fist as he sniffed her hair dramatically. "You will be a fun one to break then I'll do the same to that trash you call a mother."

"Y-You promised." Will gasped as she struggled, his grasp tightening causing her to wince in pain.

"I know, great isn't it?" Frost laughed.

"Bastard!" Dean screamed picking up the sword Frost dropped when Cedric grabbed him and lunged at Frost who pushed Will away in time to catch Dean with a strong punch in the stomach launching him into the air to crash down next to Susan who was just getting free. She hurried to Dean as Will went to them both as the two women checked on each other and Dean as Frost laughed manically as the soldiers started fighting the group of rebels.

"You are going to be my toys and I'm going to force this little piece of shit to watch as I torture you." Frost said licking his lips as he slowly stalked toward the three huddled on the ground. Susan cradling Dean's head in her lap as he lay unconscious while holding Will to her in a lose embrace with one arm.

"I'm sorry." Will cried.

"Have you no honor at all, Frost?" Vathek demanded as Miranda hid back with Cedric.

"Brother, he wouldn't would he?" Miranda asked obviously shaken from witnessing the scene.

"Frost, enough!" Cedric growled, "We have the Heart, let them go."

"No, Cedric, Phobos promised me them if I could get the Heart." Frost sneered not taking his leering eyes off the two women.

"Not while I'm around." Vathek snarled slamming his fist into Frost causing him to step back. Slamming another fist into the stomach of Frost then used his two fist to strike the blonde man with a hammer blow forcing him to the ground. Vathek kicked the Heart away from Frost and towards the group of humans from Earth.

"Vathek!" Cedric gasped in shock, unsure of what to do. He knew Frost was in the wrong but to attack one of their own like Vathek did was too.

"I won't let that THING hurt an innocent child!" Vathek snapped.

"Will reached out and grabbed the Heart distracting everyone as Will changed back to her Guardian form but in the middle of transforming, while she was helpless to do anything being locked into her cocoon Frost picked his sword back up.

"I won't let you get in my way again!" Frost bellowed plunging the bladed into Vathek's unsuspecting back.

"NOO!" Miranda screamed seeing her friend, the man who was like an uncle to her struck down by the coward Frost.

"How could you?" Cedric hissed lunging at Frost as Miranda and shrunk away to sneak around Will to Susan and Dean.

"Is he okay?" Miranda asked timidly as she knelt down next to Susan who shrunk back a little. "I didn't mean for this to happen, I…I never wanted all this to happen."

"I-It's okay honey." Susan said a little shaken as she reached out and caressed the girl's honest face. It wasn't the monster's face that kidnapped her but it had the same eyes. The monster was this girl Susan realized but she wasn't evil but why would she take part in this?

"We just wanted the Heart to end this stupid war." Miranda said tears starting to fall, "I don't want my brother fighting anymore, I don't want to lose him to."

"Oh honey." Susan sighed pulling the girl into an embrace as she realized the girl must have been crushed over what happened to the blue man who tried to help them as she watched the snake like man turn to a more normal looking form and check on him as Will launched the blonde haired blue skinned man across the field with a blast of energy and followed up hitting him again with another one.

"How dare you threaten my mom! Hurt Dean! Hurt Vathek, he was one of YOU and you killed HIM!" Will screamed as tears streamed down her face. Every time a soldier came close to her she would instinctively bat him away with raw power as she almost literally glowed with it.

"Get away from her, monster!" A man said rushing up to Susan who was holding Miranda and cradling Dean's head in her lap.

"Don't you dare touch her!" Susan snapped at the now confused man.

"That's Miranda! Cedric's sister, she's a monster!" The man said, "Lady, you're in danger if you don't get away from her."

"And you're in danger if you think I'm giving her to you!" Susan snapped, her glare causing him to take a step back before a bolt of lightning drove him back farther.

"Get away from my mother!" Will growled, her eyes glowing with power as she gasped for breath.

"Will, is he…" Susan asked nodding over to where Vathek lay.

"I…I think so." Will sighed as Cedric was with the blue man's body. Miranda started sobbing harder as she nuzzled closer to Susan as Will watched in sympathy. She didn't know Vathek very well but she knew he was a good man and she made Frost pay for what he did but she couldn't kill him. She was going to, she wanted to so much but she couldn't. She couldn't take another person's life.

Will wanted to stay and see if Vathek was okay but the damage the sword did left little doubt that he was dead. She had to make sure her family was okay, get them out of here before reinforcements arrived. Realizing that she thought as the foolish, kind hearted and brave teacher as family caused her to smile ruefully.

"Miranda!" Cedric called, his voice hoarse, "Go with them!"

"Brother?" Miranda sobbed looking up at him.

"Damn it, Miranda, go!" Cedric ordered while glaring at where Frost's prone body was, "I don't want you anywhere near that bastard!"

"Cedric…" Miranda sniffled.

"I'll be okay." Cedric said taking his snake like form again, "Go now before more guards come."

"Come on, sweetie." Susan said softly as Will lifted Dean up bridal style surprising the older woman some. It was hard to believe Will could be so strong Susan thought as she took Miranda's hand.

"Come on." Will said walking with her mother while eyeing Miranda a little suspiciously. This could all be a trap sending the girl with them but after seeing the way Frost was it was perfectly reasonable to send the girl someplace safe. No one deserved to live with a monster like that as Will personally knew. Thankfully it didn't go as far as it could have but there wasn't a chance Will was leaving the seemingly shy but powerful girl behind in case Frost decided to go after her after this last escape from him.

"Guardian, you can't be serious taking that thing back with you!" A rebel asked running up to them after dispatching a guard. He was bald and had a kind of yellowish skin.

"Look, if you think I'm leaving her behind you're one seriously crazed up fruit loop." Will said and had to fight the snicker that was trying to break free at the man's funny looking confused expression.

"My name is Aldarn, I'm second in command of the rebels and all of Phobos's goons are war criminals." Aldarn said not moving from before them.

"She's a teenage girl!" Will snapped, electricity dancing in her eyes, "What the hell did she do, rob a mall?"

"What's a mall?" Aldarn asked in confusion before Will did something she didn't really want to do. With a flick of a finger she launched a small burst of power to wash over the man knocking him unconscious without casing any serious harm.

"Good job honey, now let's get out of here." Susan said moving around the slightly smoking man leading Miranda as Will carried Dean.

WITCH

"You killed Vathek?" Phobos asked, steepling his fingers under his chin as he leaned back in his throne studying the brutally battered form of Frost and the slightly injured form of Cedric, both kneeling down at the foot of the staircase leading up to the throne where he was sitting.

"He was a traitor." Frost sneered.

"You had the Heart and let it slip through your fingers because you couldn't keep it in your pants?" Phobos growled, "I don't care if you did let them go if you got me the Heart but you single handedly screwed it up and killed one of my best warriors."

"What about him?" Frost asked angrily pointing at Cedric who had tears forming in his eyes though he refused to let them fall.

"Cedric did what was expected, he sent his sister to do what you screwed up!" Phobos growled leaning forward, "I should have you thrown into the abyss but…I'm feeling generous. Raythor, take him and throw him in a cell for a few nights. Maybe it will teach him to keep from screwing up."

"You can't do this!" Frost screamed as he was dragged from the audience chamber by several angry guards who were good friends with Vathek.

"What happened to Vathek's body?" Phobos sighed looking down on the sad expression on his favorite warrior despite Vathek's honor rubbing off on him somewhat.

"The rebels…We didn't have enough soldiers and was driven off before we could recover it." Cedric sighed.

"I am sorry for your loss, Cedric. I knew the two of you was good friends and I do sympathize with you but this kind of thing needs to stop." Phobos said gently while smirking internally as this was perfect. If used in the right way the death of the blue man could be put to good use by using it to spur Cedric to hurry up and gain the Heart and find the princess.

WITCH

"Are you sure he's going to be okay?" Will asked as Susan closed the door to their apartment as Dean and Miranda left. Since there wasn't a lot of room in their apartment Dean had insisted on letting Miranda stay with him for now until they could make better arrangements the next day as Dean had said he was going to call off as Susan had reluctantly agreed to call Will off too so they could all talk about what happened.

"I'm sure, she never tried to hurt me I don't think and…Her eyes look so much like yours honey." Susan sighed, "She's not evil but she was trapped in some bad circumstances like we were. It wouldn't have been right to leave her anywhere near that thing."

"I still can't believe Vathek was killed like that." Will said as fresh tears started to spill. Susan pulled Will into a tight embrace trying to comfort her daughter. She still wasn't sure what to think of this whole 'Guardian' thing but they would discuss it tomorrow. Right now Will needed her mother to comfort her, not a lecture on how dangerous it was.

NOTES

Wow, finished the next chappie much quicker than I thought I would. Hope its better than the last one was.

Philip Gipson: Thankies and I'm glad you liked the sibling connection. I've seen Sailor Moon too and love it, its one of my favorite animes. I wish they would release them on DVD with a ton of extras including all the music spread out across all the DVD's like videos of the full themes and the Will to Love and The Demon.


	23. Exposed part 1

Will couldn't believe she was up at three in the morning while sitting on the couch next to her mother while both of them was huddled under a blanket and drinking hot chocolate. It was storming bad outside and their bedroom was showing just that as it had gained three more leaks, one actually pouring water from the ceiling instead of dripping which drove the two out of the bed to seek refuge in the living room where they were now.

"Will…About this whole guardian thing." Susan sighed causing Will to sigh in return. The redhead didn't want to get into an argument over this because she loved her mother very much and regretted what she did earlier by running off like that. However she also didn't want to give up the Heart as she felt it was the only thinking making her worth anything, especially with the girls. They would probably have never been brought together if not for the whole guardian gig and Will didn't want to lose that. She didn't want to lose Irma though she was sure that already happened.

"Mom…Please, I can't give it up." Will sighed.

"I…I'm not asking you to honey." Susan said wrapping an arm around Will, "I'm so scared that you are going to get hurt but…I'm proud of you."

"Really?" Will asked in surprise, she was sure Susan was going to be upset over keeping this a secret as well as what kind of dangers there would be.

"I don't like it, Will." Susan said putting her mug on the table before them and leaning against Will holding her close, "I'm so afraid of losing you but…You are old enough to make your own decisions and I'm proud of you for it."

"Thanks mom." Will whispered putting her own mug down and curling up against the older woman. "Mom, what are we going to do about Miranda?"

"We will do what we can for her, I won't leave her where it's dangerous like that. God Will, he was looking at you like he wanted to…" Susan was saying in disgust before Will cut her off.

"He tried before with Irma but Vathek saved her." Will said sniffling a little, "God I can't believe he died like that, I hope Cedric killed Frost for that."

"Do you really wish that?" Susan asked gently, her eyes tearing up a little too. She wasn't stupid, the way Vathek attacked Frost was meant to knock the Heart free and to Will. The man had saved them from lord knows what and his reward was to be killed like that. A part of Susan wanted the snake like man to have killed the perverted creature but she couldn't truly bring herself to wish it.

"A part of me does mom but…I know it's wrong. To take someone else's life in exchange for another, no matter how much a part of me wants it I can't…" Will said before Susan put a finger to the girl's lips.

"It's okay, honey, I know what you are saying." Susan said gently, proud of her daughter. As much as Susan wanted to kill Tony she knew that deep somewhere inside the man was who she fell in love with but the monster the drugs and alcohol turned him into beat what love she had out of him out. Of course she still cared for the man on some level but she would never give him another chance to hurt Will ever again.

"Mom…When are they going to fix the roof?" Will sighed. It was a question that had been bugging Susan because there was several leaks throughout the apartment and the landlord kept refusing to repair them saying there was nothing wrong but with the last one…She had it with the place but it was the only place she could afford. She could feel the tears starting to build in her eyes and was glad when she felt the steady breathing of her daughter under the blanket signaling the girl was a sleep.

Susan was beginning to feel like a failure to her daughter, they had to accept charity to even have anything at the moment and she hated that. She wanted to be the one to provide for her daughter not the government and not the parents of her daughter's friends even if they were great people. She wanted so much to go back and get what little they owned back from Fadden Hills but was too afraid too and she was truly furious that her daughter risked going back. The only thing keeping her from exploding at her daughter was that the redhead had meant well. Meaning well wouldn't mean much if her daughter was dead though.

Sighing a little Susan snuggled up with her daughter and closed her eyes trying to get to sleep as well. Tomorrow was going to be a long day as both Dean and Susan was calling off as well as Susan calling Will off and besides what they had planned Susan wanted to at least try and find a suitable apartment for Will and herself but she wasn't looking for it to happen.

WITCH

Miranda snuggled one of the pillows as she wondered what was so soft before opening her eyes and seeing a huge bed like only the Prince had. Sitting up in fear as she knew Frost was a creep she didn't think the Prince was, at least not that way. She wasn't in the Prince's personal chambers though, she was somewhere very alien to her with all kinds of strange devices sitting around the chamber.

"I can't believe how beautiful it looks outside." Miranda mumbled to herself seeing the clear skies on fire as the sunrise was clearly visible from her position. She had never seen anything like this on Meridian and if this was how Earth was going to be she could see why Cedric liked it here so much. Maybe she could even get Cedric to just leave Meridian and the two of them could live happily here.

"Good luck." She sighed shaking her head, her brother took his debts very seriously. Almost too seriously in her opinion as she climbed out of the bed and put her earth style top and skirt on that Phobos had ordered made so she could fit in when she was ordered to accompany her brother to kidnap the parents of a guardian.

She was a little nervous about staying with the strange man but after hearing briefly about how much trouble the Keeper and her mother was having themselves Miranda consented to coming with this Dean Collins. Hearing a little behind the redhead's circumstances made the Meridian girl realize that there were more in common than she originally thought.

Miranda had always believed that strange as Earth was that it was some grand Utopia, a paradise were everyone was happy and there wasn't any real problems. Actually spending a little time with Will though last night Miranda could see a self loathing and depression in those eyes that mirrored Miranda's own. She knew someone had to go through hell to have eyes like that and as much as one pretended otherwise the eyes always told the truth if one knew what to look for.

"You up?" Dean's voice came from the other side of the door, his fist rapping gently on it. She was surprised that he had given up his bedchambers to her, especially after what she had a part in last night. He had opted instead to sleep on the couch telling her to get some rest after letting her use the washroom to clean up. There was some more of what only Phobos had in the castle as she found there was actually running water there as well as some kind of magic warming the water as it came out.

"Yes." Miranda replied opening the door to find Dean standing there.

"Good, I made us some breakfast." Dean said smiling a little. She wasn't exactly in the mood for bland porridge but she did need something to eat so gave in and followed him down the hall to the kitchen where there was two places set with strange food on the plates. They seemed to be some kind of thin, round bread and what she was sure was sausage along with some kind of juice.

"What is it?" Miranda asked as Dean motioned for her to take a seat at one of the places as he took the other one. He took a bottle of something and poured some over the bread on his plate.

"Pancakes, they're really good." Dean said handing Miranda the bottle. "This is maple syrup, don't you have this stuff in your world?"

"No, the Prince usually has a feast for breakfast but the rest of us usually has to have porridge. We're the lucky ones though, some of the villagers don't even get that." Miranda said shaking her head, feeling sorry for the fools even if it was mostly their fault for keeping the war going.

"It's good, try it." Dean said so Miranda imitated him and poured some of the syrup over the cakes before setting the bottle on the table. Taking a fork she cut off a small bite and stuck it in her mouth immediately tasting the intense flavors she wasn't used to. It had to be the best thing she had ever tried, even when she did sneak a bite of something from the kitchen as Trill and the other maids and cooks prepared the Prince's food.

"Told you." Dean said laughing a little. "I have a guest coming over this morning before Susan and Will gets here and I might have to go with her for a few minutes. I already told Susan I'd leave the door unlocked so if you want you can come with me or wait here."

"Can I come with you?" Miranda asked hoping for another ride in the metal horseless carriage.

"Sure." Dean asked finishing his food before there was a loud chime. Dean got up letting Miranda finish her food while dumping his plate in the in a strange cupboard before going to answer the door.

Miranda hurriedly finished off her food and followed Deans example before hurrying to see if it was who Dean was expecting. He was at the door talking to a kind looking older woman who reminded Miranda of Trill in a way.

"So this must be Will." The woman said with a bright smile.

"Actually, this is Miranda, Will's cousin who will be staying to." Dean had said, "Do you have any four bedrooms?"

"Sorry dear, only the three bedroom." The woman said smiling, "Perhaps the young ladies could share a bedroom?"

"Maybe." Dean sighed, "Can we look at it?"

"Sure dear, actually it's right across the hall." The woman said turning around and opening the door across from this one. If the place they were in a few momnts ago was big then this new one was huge. There was a kitchen, a common room, two washrooms, one connected to the two smaller rooms and one connected to the master chambers. Even bare it was a beautiful place. "It's usually runs three hundred dollars more a month than your apartment but since you are trying to help out your girlfriend I can give it to you for only one fifty more a month for three months before I have to raise it to the normal price."

"I'll take it." Dean said smiling at the older woman.

"Great, since you already paid the rent for this month I can help you out a little more, I won't charge you anything else until next moth and you can go ahead and move in." The woman said fishing a ring with two keys on it and giving it to Dean.

"Thanks." Dean said as the woman left.

"So you are moving in here?" Miranda asked.

"Yeah, my old apartment only had one room and I asked her for a bigger one because I was going to ask Susan and Will to move in out of that dump." Dean said, "We'll have to work out the sleeping arrangements now that we will have another guest staying."

"Who?" Miranda asked curiously, a little sad because she doubted they were going to let her stay with them. She'd either have to go back or figure out a place for her to stay on her own.

"You will be, you and Will might have to share a room and Susan can have one and I'll have one." Dean said as he turned to lead Miranda back to the other apartment before she jumped on his back in an uncharacteristic display for her as she hugged him.

"Thank you!" Miranda cried happily as she didn't have to go back.

NOTES:

As promised here's the update for 'Never a Normal Life' and I hope you all enjoyed it, thankies.

Riot: Thankies, I actually got the idea from the episode where Nerissa told Cassidy she had no idea what she meant to her. LOL, nope he didn't quite understand it then but I'm sure he does now. It was the only time Will truly put her foot down as she did and opposed her mother as they had always worked everything out as the worked together to survive. Now that Will has something that she feels makes her worth something she is going to not really want to give it up. As for Cedric, you have it right where taking care of Miranda was a positive influence on him and helped make him a better person, if a little blinded by loyalty. I do feel bad for Vathek but there may be a little more to what happened than what everyone thinks so far but I'm not really sure yet, sorries. Miranda fitting in on earth and how hard it is for her to fit in with the guardians may make things a little difficult for her and her worry for her brother will cause her some troubles as well. Thankies.

Philip Gipson: Your welcome and in my opinion as evil as Phobos is in my story he can't hold a camera to how evil Frost is. Vathek's sacrifice was a very noble one and Frost showed his true colors as not caring about anyone but himself. I hope you liked this chappie, thankies.


	24. Exposed part 2

Will yawned as she followed her mother through the unfamiliar apartment building to the elevator to where they would take it up to where Susan said Dean's apartment was. She was actually a little nervous going to this man's apartment as he had spent the night with Miranda there. It wasn't what he would have done to the Meridian girl that worried Will, it was the unfounded worries she had of Miranda turning into her monstrous form and devouring the man. She had to bit her lip from giggling a little at the thought of a chibi Miranda spider chasing a chibi Dean around the building.

"Hey mom, you really care for Dean, don't you?" Will asked nervously as the elevator opened and the two stepped on. Susan glanced over the control panel before hitting one of the buttons causing the door to slide shut.

"Yeah…I…Will, I know it's a little soon after…After what happened but I really think I love Dean. I feel like we were meant for each other." Susan sighed as Will played with the Heart through her shirt feeling the ring that was on a string next to the powerful talisman.

"I'm happy for you but I…I was wondering how you felt about his aunt being…You know." Will said blushing a little. She was afraid of screwing Irma's life up any more but a part of her was hoping everything would be fine. In fact Will hated cops but for once she wanted to go se one, to talk to Irma's father in private and hopefully if she couldn't be with the girl she could help fix the problems with Irma's dad. And if luck was with her maybe the man would accept Will and would give her his blessing to be with Irma.

"A lesbian" Susan laughed, "Honestly I was shocked as hell, Will but…You could tell they were in love so I'm happy for them and hope they found each other again wherever they are now."

"Really?" Will asked with relief.

"Really, Will. You know I'm not prejudice against anyone and if two people can come together and be happy then I'm all for it." Susan said smiling, "Will…Why are you so interested in this all of a sudden?"

"Just wondering." Will said as she bolted out of the elevator doors as the slid open at the perfect time.

"Will, wait up!" Susan called after the redhead who was rushing down the hall towards two open doors across from each other. She had to stop for a second as a though occurred to her, was Will attracted to Miranda? That would explain the sudden questions about this subject as they had just met the last night. She wasn't too sure what to think about it but decided not to worry about it for now.

"I still don't see why I can't change, I could move it for you and you wouldn't have to wait for this Tom person." Miranda said as she carried a box behind Dean who was carrying another one.

"Dean, what's going on?" Susan asked hurrying over to the two girls and Dean.

"Well, I was hoping to get a little more done before you girls got here but come on in." Dean said leading the way into the apartment with some boxes stacked off to the side but otherwise void of any furniture.

"Why are you moving stuff into here?" Susan asked confused to why he was moving as he had said he loved his apartment.

"Well, you se I got a three bedroom apartment and I was hoping I could get a little company." Dean explained blushing a little before noticing the angry look forming on Will's face. "I was hoping that you and Will would move in, Susan. You could have a room and Will could have one and I could take the last one."

"What about Miranda?" Susan asked, surely he couldn't be suggesting throwing the girl out.

"Well, you see, I've been planning this for a couple days and Miranda is new to the plan which I was thinking maybe she could share a room with Miranda." Dean said nervously setting down his box near the one Miranda placed on the floor in the corner with the other ones.

"Dean, I can't afford something like this." Susan sighed rubbing her temples.

"That's the beauty of it, Susan." Dean smiled, "I got this for the same price as my other apartment for three months and by that time you will finish your class then can pitch in."

"Plus one fifty." Miranda said looking at Dean curiously, "Don't forget that."

"I…I wasn't Miranda, thank you." Dean said with a sigh while shaking his head causing Susan to laugh a little.

"Dean, I have to talk to Will about something like this but if we move in I'll stay with Will and Miranda can have her own room." Susan said, crossing her arms.

"I'll leave that up to you girls but I don't want you two to have to stay in that apartment." Dean said crossing his arms, leaning in to whisper so only Susan heard him. "They have condemned it several times, there are drug dealers who supposedly hang out around there and there was a murder there about six months ago."

"I-I didn't know that." Susan whispered back, "Y-You aren't telling me this to move in with you are you?"

"Susan, I wouldn't lie to you like that." Dean said with sincerity.

"Are you sure you can afford this or even want it?" Susan asked softly, looking over her shoulder at Will and Miranda talking.

"Mom, if you want I think that would be cool but if he tries anything funny with you I'll cut his hands off." Will said mock glaring at the two adults causing them both to blush and sputter in denial.

"Funny?" Miranda asked causing Susan and Dean to turn even redder.

"It's okay, don't worry about it honey." Susan said smiling at Miranda who blinked in confusion until Dean came to her rescue.

"So, do you want to help pack some of the stuff in my apartment?" Dean asked looking at Will and Susan.

"How about the stuff at our apartment?" Susan asked, worried about it.

"I called Tom this morning and he said he'd come help move the heavy stuff and go get the stuff from your apartment a little after noon." Dean said, "And Will, he wants to talk to you about yesterday and apologize."

"What happened yesterday?" Susan asked looking at Will with worry.

"Sorry Will, but I really think you should tell her." Dean said smiling a little.

"We kind of got into a little argument." Will sighed, shaking her head as she remembered the man calling her trash. She knew on some level she was, its why all the bad stuff happened to her and her mother. Another part of her knew different, knew she wasn't trash and that her father loved her but that man was taken away by the drugs and alcohol

"What kind of argument?" Susan asked as worry began to build as she noticed the sad look in her eyes.

"I caused a fight between him and Irma." Will sighed hugging herself before Susan wrapped her arms around the girl and held her tightly, stroking the redhead's hair.

"What happened?" Susan asked softly as Dean led Miranda from the apartment softly closing the door behind them.

"Irma…When we got back she kissed me." Will sighed as she leaned into the warm embrace.

"She kissed you…H-How did that make you feel?" Susan asked softly, a little shocked at hearing this.

"Actually, I loved it, it felt…God it felt good mom." Will sighed, "Mom, I love her. It wasn't the only time we kissed."

"Who was the first to kiss who?" Susan asked unsure if she really wanted to know the answer to that. She had never been prejudiced against this kind of thing and wasn't at the two girls but she was starting to become very worried. There were many people out there who would try to hurt them plus Susan wasn't sure if this was something her daughter really wanted. She wasn't sure if this was something where Will felt safe and she was clinging onto it. If it was that, it could end up hurting both girls badly.

"Mom…I found out that since coming here she has been crushing on me." Will sighed, "Then…God, she's the only one who I've ever been attracted to and it scares me but…I kissed her. I told her I wasn't sure how this was going to work out but I really liked her and was willing to give it a try."

"Honey," Susan sighed pushing Will back so they could look eye to eye so the elder woman could try and be sure this was what the girl honestly felt. What Will truly believed? "Will, how do you feel about her? Right now, what do you think about her?"

"I…I love her." Will sighed pulling the ring out and showing Susan, "I want to give her this if…If your okay with it. She's my first love mom and…I know we were meant to be together."

"Oh honey." Susan sighed kissing Will's forehead, from what she could tell the redhead meant what she said. She couldn't exactly say anything against it as Susan felt the same thing about Dean. Dean had been the first person in a long time to make Susan feel good about herself. Of course Tony used to but when he started taking drugs it was all violence to him. Dean, the man truly seemed to worship the ground she walked on as well as seemed to love Will as a daughter. Susan wanted so much to be with the man but she was also partly afraid of moving too fast for any of them. "This is going to be rough on you both but if this is what you both want…What you really want, I'll support you both."

"R-Really?" Will asked as tears started forming in her eyes.

"Really." Susan said, nodding as Will threw her arms around her in a strong hug.

WITCH

"Why are we leaving?" Miranda asked a little worried about the Vandom women, though a little sadness as she watched the close interaction between mother and daughter as it was something she never had.

"They needed some time alone, Miranda." Dean said softly, studying the Meridianites face. "Are you okay?"

"I guess so, I…I just wonder what it would have been like to have parents who loved you like Susan seems to love Will." Miranda sighed, shaking her head at her foolishness. She was the sister of Phobos's right hand man, the sister of Cedric, the strongest and most capable warrior in all Meridian. She promised her brother to always be strong like him but at times it was hard.

"You do have parents who love you if you will have them." Dean said smiling at her as she looked up at him in confusion. She was a little shocked and scared when he advanced on her but soon found herself relaxing in his surprising embrace. "You are really a nice girl Miranda and I'd be happy if you stayed here with us and be a part of our family. I'd be proud to call you daughter."

"R-Really?" Miranda asked, a little afraid to admit that this is what she always wanted. She loved her brother deeply but she always wanted a father and mother as well, at least ones who loved Cedric and herself instead of the few bad memories of the ones she had.

NOTES

Here's the next chappie of Never a Normal Life, hope you enjoyed it.

Philip Gipson: I'm glad and your welcomies, I'm really glad you liked the chappie and really hope you liked this one as well. As for Phobos, he really is evil in this story, not like Frost, but he is evil. He pretty much just uses everyone for his own goals.

Riot: I'm glad you did and I think so too, they will make a wonderful family. You brought up a very good question, thankies so much because it wasn't something I thought a lot about yet, but Miranda doesn't know a lot about Earth yet but she will know a few things like simple reading and writing as well as some math but she's way behind the other students and will have to be tutored a lot to catch up. Originally I was thinking about making him one but I need him to be a human because of future events coming up in the sequel to this story, the Nerissa arc. I have trouble sleeping sometimes, especially lately and I end up back and forth on the computer and trying to sleep so I do get a lot posted early in the morning or late at night. Actually, I got both the CD and cartoon now and I saved all the comics so they will be easier to read later in case something happens to the sit I got them off of. Check out Moonclouds website if you want to check out the comic scans, its great and the addy is in my profile.


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